A better night for equities, with the Nikkei up 2%. In the broader market, Donald Trump is making headlines again, denying a report that he might moderate plans for across-the-board tariffs when he retakes the White House. Additionally, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has resigned as head of the Liberal Party in Canada.
Overnight, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported that December retail sales rose 3.2% year-on-year, boosted by a big weekend of Black Friday sales that are typically included in November data. However, annual sales growth remained lackluster at 0.7% year-on-year, with lower footfall at brick-and-mortar stores for the second consecutive year.
In Asia, our barometer of risk, iron ore futures, remains weak after hitting their lowest level in more than a month on Monday. The active SGX contract is near $96 per ton, reflecting weak steel demand and sluggish growth in China.
As for the day ahead, we have Eurozone CPI and unemployment data, U.S. job openings, and the ISM services report. On the speaking front, we’ll hear from the Fed’s Thomas Barkin.
Market-wise, Bitcoin rose 0.2% to $101,865.67, Ether rose 0.1% to $3,672.75, the yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.61%, and USDCAD has a double top at 1.4465.
