| Welcome to your morning markets update, delivered every weekday before the European open. Good morning. Oil surged on supply concerns overnight, pound traders could be in for another interesting week, and leaders are heading to Davos. Here's what's moving markets. Oil Spikes Oil looks set to be a key focus on Monday after crude futures surged on threats to supply from two OPEC nations. Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar blocked exports at ports under his control, causing the National Oil Corp. to declare force majeure, which can allow Libya to legally suspend delivery contracts. Meanwhile, Iraq temporarily stopped work on an oil field on Sunday and supply from a second production site is at risk amid widespread protests. Futures rose more than 1.7% in London and New York. Pound Excitement U.K. Parliament is expected to wrap up its passage of the Brexit deal this week, but traders are more interested in how the Bank of England is likely to manage the impact of the divorce. Friday's data showing a slump in December retail sales fueled even more bets of a rate cut on Jan. 30, and the publication of statistics such as unemployment and industrial production in the coming days could make for another interesting week for sterling. Davos Time The International Monetary Fund releases its World Economic Outlook later ahead of this week's Davos summit. Major names from politics and markets will mingle in the Swiss Alps — including at least 119 billionaires — in the coming days. U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver opening remarks tomorrow amid a backdrop of the U.S. Senate's impeachment trial, which is set to open on the same day. U.K.'s Boris Johnson, meanwhile, is staying in Britain to remind voters why he called his new administration the "people's government." Here's some issues that could be raised by those that do attend. Modest Gains Elsewhere, Asian stocks saw modest gains as investors continued to bid up prices after seven weekly advances, with one regional benchmark hitting the highest level since 2018. The broad MSCI Asia Pacific Index, however remains more than 7% from its peak, still nursing wounds from the trade war and China's slowdown. The offshore yuan extended recent gains, rising to the strongest since July. Coming Up… There's a lull in European earnings this morning, but it won't won't last long — this week BHP Group Plc gets reporting going for big miners, and UBS AG kicks off the banks tomorrow following a solid run for U.S. peers last week. Meanwhile, keep an eye on U.K. homebuilder shares today after Rightmove data showed asking prices for U.K. homes increased by the most for any January on record. What We've Been Reading This is what's caught our eye over the weekend And finally, here's what Cormac Mullen is interested in this morning Having threatened to breach its 2014 record low at the end of last year, global currency volatility has finally sunk to a new floor. A combination of easing geopolitical tensions, a resolution on Brexit, positive economic data out of the U.S. and China and, of course, the long-awaited signing of the Sino-American trade deal has calmed nerves and suppressed price swings across the foreign exchange market. There's nothing in the rule book that says this is inherently bad, or foretells imminent market doom, but it does add a certain sense of unease amid rampant stock prices, relatively subdued sovereign bond moves and renewed appetite for junk debt. And there is of course a touch of the Hyman Minsky about any record volatility low -- the theory that stability can eventually beget instability. For that, a lot will depend on what currency assumptions traders have made when placing their bets for this year and beyond, in all markets. Still, those who are hoping for a bit more life in FX in the short-term can look to a number of potential catalysts sitting in the wings that may kick-start trading activity. Chief among them are the upcoming central bank meetings in the U.K. and Japan, and the Democratic U.S. presidential primaries in February.  Cormac Mullen is a Cross-Asset reporter and editor for Bloomberg News in Tokyo. Like Bloomberg's Five Things? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. | 
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