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Five Things - Europe
Bloomberg

Good morning. A Brexit trade deal is reportedly set to be announced, countries are ramping up Covid-19 vaccinations and Turkey is expected to raise interest rates. Here's what's moving markets.

Deal Imminent

An announcement of a U.K.-European Union trade deal is expected Thursday morning after negotiators in Brussels spent the night haggling over the wording of the treaty. One EU diplomat said the U.K. had made concessions on fisheries in recent hours that had unlocked the deal. The pound is extending gains, stocks also got a boost and futures are climbing today. Still, traders aren't ruling out a last minute nightmare before Christmas until the ink is dry.

Vaccination Ramped

There's reason to be cheerful in this grim winter as countries including Spain, Denmark and Austria ramp up Covid-19 vaccination programs. Former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair called for Britain's rollout to be radically accelerated, on the same day the government imposed tougher regulations across much of England. Vital freight links to the continent reopened after France eased border restrictions, meaning your five-a-day is safe, for now. Still, the numbers aren't pretty, with the U.K. recording its highest death toll since April and Germany's deaths rising the most since the pandemic began.

Turkey Seen Hiking 

The Turkish central bank is likely to increase interest rates today following a surprise rise in inflation, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Governor Naci Agbal is aiming to restore credibility with investors after inheriting double-digit price rises, a weak lira and depleted foreign-currency reserves. The central bank has faced persistent pressure from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose unorthodox economics blame higher borrowing costs for fanning prices. Here's a decision day guide

Baba Probed

China kicked off an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices at internet giant Alibaba and summoned affiliate Ant Group to a high-level meeting over financial regulations, escalating scrutiny over billionaire Jack Ma's empire. Previously viewed as drivers of economic prosperity and symbols of the country's technological prowess, Alibaba and rivals like Tencent face increasing scrutiny after amassing hundreds of millions of users and gaining influence over almost every aspect of daily life in the country.

Coming Up…

Several stock exchanges in continental Europe and in the U.K. are closing early for the festive break, while volumes are expected to be light across asset classes. In the U.S., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will attempt to pass a bill boosting stimulus payments for individuals to $2,000 after President Donald Trump demanded larger payments. There are doubts she will succeed.

What We've Been Reading

This is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours. 

And finally, here's what Garfield Reynolds is interested in this morning

There's a very large helping of global growth being priced in by markets. That sets up investors for potential pain in 2021 -- especially if things start improving. The combined market value of equities and bonds is now $169 trillion or so, almost double the world's expected gross domestic product for 2020. Even assuming consensus forecasts are accurate and the economy expands 5.2% next year after shrinking 3.8% this year, that will still leave a yawning gap between real world output and financial assets. The two measures have tended to remain in some sort of alignment, and if that relationship is going to hold then assets would have to come down in value considerably. The main thing backing market prices seems to be central bank easing and fiscal largesse, so the key risks for bonds and stocks could be that the pandemic starts to fade and those supports are removed.

Garfield Reynolds is a Markets Live reporter and editor for Bloomberg News in Sydney. 

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