- European equities mostly higher on Brexit trade deal hopes
- EU publishes sweeping rules for tech giants
- US stocks rise on stimulus talks
European stocks finished the session mostly in green, amid optimism surrounding a post-Brexit trade deal. A reporter from BBC Newsnight tweeted about a ‘Big buzz in the last hour’ among Conservative MPs, saying the UK is heading towards a Brexit trade deal with the EU. Earlier in the session, both EU negotiator Michel Barnier and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were optimistic about the conclusion of a trade agreement. On the coronavirus front, Germany and the Netherlands will enter a new lockdown this week, while Italy may implement partial lockdown from December 24 to at least January 2. In addition, the UK government imposed on Monday tighter restrictions on London.
Meanwhile European Union published draft regulation on digital services and markets with provisions allowing it to force the separation of companies’ businesses – for example – the Whatsapp and Instagram services from Facebook– if they are fined under the new laws three times within five years, according to the Financial Times. One of the potential changes is putting an end to self-preferencing. Firms like Apple and Google will also have to allow users to uninstall apps that have originally come with their devices. Failure to comply with the new rules could result in fines as high as 10% of the companies’ annual turnover in Europe.
US indices are trading higher as Congress continues negotiations on a new coronavirus-aid bill and Covid-19 vaccines began to roll out across the country. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to a meeting on government funding and coronavirus relief. The meeting would mark the most significant effort yet for the four leaders to come to a bipartisan agreement on a package that could get through a divided Congress. It is unclear now whether all of the congressional leaders will participate in today's meeting. Meanwhile, coronavirus vaccination already started in the US although infections continue to increase and the number of fatalities surpassed 300K. Tomorrow investors’ attention will focus on FOMC decision meeting. Fed is expected to leave interest rate unchanged and signal easy monetary policy for the foreseeable future.
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Create account Try a demo Download mobile app Download mobile appUS crude futures are trading 1.20% higher at $ 47.58 a barrel, while Brent contract rose nearly 1% to $ 50.70. Earlier in the session, the International Energy Agency reduced its estimate for global demand next year by another 170,000 barrels a day, leaving it still more than 3 million barrels a day below 2019 levels. However it seems that investors shrug off fresh concerns over global fuel demand as more countries introduces lockdowns and focus on prospects of further US stimulus and coronavirus vaccine rollout. American Petroleum Institute report will be published later in the day. Elsewhere, gold futures rose 1.2% to $ 1,849.50 /oz, while silver is trading 2.70% near $ 24.46/oz.
GBPUSD - pair returned above the 1.34 level and managed to break above the downward trendline on optimism over Brexit talks. If the current sentiment prevails, the upward move could be extended to the 1.3467 resistance level. Source: xStation5.
