| Crucial day for stimulus push, more lockdowns loom, and another oil warning. Today?With the Congressional session winding down and a government funding package needed by Friday, today seems likely to be the day when we find out if lawmakers see a path toward agreeing to a stimulus bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will hold press briefings later, respectively, where both could indicate what they are willing to include and exclude from the coronavirus relief bill. Some senior Democrats are already favoring pushing ahead with the $748 billion proposal that leaves out the most controversial elements. Tough winter Ahead of the vaccine rollout, restrictions introduced to stop the spread of the virus are tightening again. London is entering the toughest level of the government's three-tier system from tomorrow as cases spike in the city. Curbs are being sharpened across Europe, with Germany entering a lockdown tomorrow, the Netherlands following a similar path and Italy expected to follow suit. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state is on the path to a second full lockdown. Total deaths in the U.S. from the virus passed 300,000 yesterday. Demand warning The International Energy Agency trimmed its forecasts for world fuel consumption, warning that the market remains fragile following a new wave of virus restrictions. The IEA did say that it expects that OPEC+'s tight rein on supplies would help clear bloated global inventories over the next 12 months. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate for January delivery was trading over $47 this morning, as positive news about the recovery in China helped outweigh the IEA's worsening outlook. Markets mixed Stock investors are seeing the glass as half-full this morning as they focus on the vaccine rollout and positive corporate news. Overnight the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.4% while Japan's Topix index closed 0.5% lower. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.2% higher at 5:50 a.m. Eastern Time with Volkswagen AG rallying strongly after the board backed the CEO. S&P 500 futures pointed to a gain at the open, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 0.9% and gold was higher. Coming up... December Empire Manufacturing and the November U.S. import and export price indexes are at 8:30 a.m. Industrial production data for November is published at 9:15 a.m. TIC flows for October are at 4:00 p.m. The FOMC meeting begins. Brexit negotiations continue in Brussels. What we've been readingThis is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours. And finally, here's what Joe's interested in this morningBack in early September, over three months ago, I noticed how interesting it was that shares of Tesla moved so closely to lumber futures. I wasn't sure what to think of it or what it meant. But anyway, it's mid-December and the charts still look almost exactly the same. I'm still not sure what to think, but it's still striking.  Joe Weisenthal is an editor at Bloomberg. 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. | 
Post a Comment