Squawk Box Europe Express

There are chaotic scenes on Capitol Hill as hundreds of Trump supporters storm Congress, forcing both Republican and Democrat lawmakers to flee the chamber during a session to confirm Joe Biden as the next president. Congress was eventually reconvened after one woman died from an alleged police gunshot wound and three others passed away due to medical emergencies. This, as Democrats secured a seco...

Markets eye the Georgia Senate race which still remains too close to call. Futures see-saw and the 10-year treasury yield is up 1 per cent for the first time since March. Meanwhile, President Trump signs an executive order to ban 8 Chinese apps, renewing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. China sees services activity slide to a three-month low but it is still expanding with several reg...

The first trading day of 2021 sees U.S. equities nosedive. The decline is the S&P 500’s biggest since 2016 while the Dow suffered its worst open in five years. All eyes are on the state of Georgia where voters go to the polls to decide control of the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile in the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is banking on a successful roll-out of the Covid vaccine after plunging England in...

U.S. President Trump appears to try to convince Georgia’s state election head to overturn the result over alleged voting irregularities. Meanwhile, China sees manufacturing activity expand but fails to reach the decade high of November. And in Europe, fresh lockdowns are looming while Japan is considering a new state of emergency. But Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock claims today marks a ‘p...

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson signs the Brexit trade agreement after MPs overwhelmingly approved the deal. The UK is set to leave the EU at 11pm tonight. Soaring Covid cases and deaths across the UK force a further 20 million people into tighter restrictions. And in China, equities end 2020 on a high on the back of expanded December factory activity but overall growth slows on higher costs. Afte...

The UK becomes the first country to approve AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s vaccine candidate, a potential game-changer for the pandemic recovery. A Colorado man tests positive for the UK variant of the Covid virus. President-elect Joe Biden says the U.S. vaccine rollout is falling behind schedule. U.S. markets close lower following recent record highs after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConn...

President Trump signs off on the $900bn virus stimulus package, sending U.S. markets soaring to fresh record highs. In Brussels, EU ambassadors unanimously approve the Brexit trade deal with British MPs set to vote on the agreement tomorrow. Alibaba shares rebound in Hong Kong after losing almost €116bn in the previous two sessions as Chinese regulators crackdown on Jack Ma's empire and its subsid...

Britain and the EU are expected to unveil a post-Brexit trade agreement today. The deal document is said to be around 2-thousand pages, with both sides having until December 31st to get Parliamentary approval. President Trump has vetoed a bipartisan defense bill, raising fears of a government shut down amid the country's vaccine roll-out. Congress will return on December 28th to decide whether to...

President Trump has said he may not sign the 900 billion dollar bipartisan relief package, calling the bill a "disgrace." He is demanding changes to several key aspects of the bill, including an increase in direct payments to Americans. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have intensified direct talks in a bid to try and reach a compromise on...

The Dow Jones claws back heavy losses of up to 2 per cent to close higher following fears of a new Covid variant spreading. U.S. Congress finally passes the latest virus relief bill worth $900bn, sending it to President Trump to sign off on – it’s the first tranche of federal funding since spring. London holds emergency talks with Paris in a desperate bid to reopen the Channel, while Prime Ministe...

The UK government has warned the harsh new restrictions in London and across South East England could be in place for months. Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed Tier 4 measures on Sunday morning, closing all non-essential shops and curbing travel in and out of the area. A number of European countries have banned travel from the UK to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus variant. Italy, Belg...

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned talks over a Brexit trade deal are in a "serious situation." This, after a phone call with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who added "big differences" remain between the two sides despite progress on several key issues. French President Emmanuel Macron has a fever and a cough after he tested positive for coronavirus. That's according to th...

The U.S. Federal Reserve promises to maintain the pace of its bond-buying programme to support the country’s economy until “substantial” progress is made in the recovery. This, as Chairman Jerome Powell warns of an uncertain half-year outlook. Meanwhile, Congress sees stimulus progress with lawmakers inching towards a $900bn virus rescue package. Markets Stateside see a mixed session with the...

There are significant hopes for a U.S. stimulus package after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said lawmakers are honing in on a rescue deal. Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett tells CNBC this agreement by Congress is paramount to save small and medium-sized businesses. The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to improve economic forecasts during its December meeting but is likely to stop sho...

COVID-19 infection rates continue rising, putting New York City at risk of a full lockdown, while London enters tougher restrictions after being moved into Tier 3. Up to six million doses of Moderna’s vaccine are set to be distributed across the U.S. pending FDA approval while the European Medicines Agency admits hackers have accessed information on the drug. The U.S. Electoral College has confirm...

The UK and the EU have agreed to "go the extra mile" with Brexit trade talks, sending sterling higher. This, after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a phone call on Sunday. The UK will revert to WTO trading rules if a deal isn't struck before December 31, while parliaments on both sides will also need to ratify any deal. Germany will go into a...

Prepare for a 'no-deal' Brexit - that's the warning from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as Brussels adopts emergency measures to keep trade flowing if talks collapse. European leaders unlock €1.8 trillion in recovery funds after reaching a deal with Poland and Hungary. Shares in Airbnb double in their debut day of trade, at one point valuing the group at over $100 billion in the biggest U.S....

The Brexit dinner date fails to break the deadlock, as Britain's Boris Johnson and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen give the two sides until Sunday to reach an agreement, sending sterling lower. European leaders are optimistic they can unlock €1.8 trillion in recovery funds after Germany strikes a deal with Hungary and Poland to overcome their differences on the bloc's budget.&nb...

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson heads to Brussels for an evening dinner meeting with EC President Ursula Von Der Leyen in an attempt to break the Brexit deadlock. This, after London scrapped the law-breaking elements of the Internal Market Bill. In the U.S., equities see record highs while treasury yields sink to new lows. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon tells CNBC that he wouldn’t touch treasuries “with...

Brexit talks are faltering once more with new demands from Brussels souring the mood in London. At the eleventh hour, France’s President Macron has reportedly intervened over fishing rights and state aid, sparking alarm in Downing Street. Oil prices surge as Opec+ comes to an agreement to relax output cuts in the New Year on an improved demand outlook following second-wave lockdowns. In the U.S.,...

President Trump is set to receive a bill to sign off on delisting certain Chinese companies from U.S. stock markets, following a House vote unanimously supporting the law. German travel firm Tui sees shares dip after receiving its third state bailout following mounting virus-related losses. In London, the FTSE closed sharply higher on improved sentiment around yesterday’s Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine a...

Highs on Wall Street, but deadlock in Washington DC. U.S. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell rejects a bipartisan stimulus plan, while Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen warns that failure to act will cause an “American tragedy”. U.S. AG William Barr has announced the DoJ has found no evidence of voter fraud in last month’s U.S. election. In corporate news, ARM CEO Simon Segars tells CNBC...

Unicredit CEO Jean-Pierre Mustier steps down after clashing with the Italian bank’s board over his restructuring plan and pressure to acquire Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena. OPEC members fail to reach an agreement on output which delays a meeting with other oil producers and pushes crude prices lower. Zoom shares dip in after-hours trading after the video app said that surging demand during lockdown ha...

Manufacturing activity in China soars to its fastest rate in three years and services PMI hits an 8-year high. Meanwhile, the White House is set to blacklist Chinese chipmaker SMIC and oil major CNOOC for alleged ties to the Chinese military. This, as Congress is also looking to vote to tighten rules on Chinese companies seeking a U.S. market listing. Black Friday numbers are in Stateside, with on...

Chinese industrial profits surge by almost 30 per cent in October as the manufacturing sector clocks its sixth consecutive month of growth since the pandemic. Hungary and Poland dig their heels in over ‘rule of law’ concerns to deny resolution over the EU budget and potentially delay recovery funds. Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki warns member states they are threatening the break-up of the bloc. U.S...