Good morning,

The S&P 500 came within a hair’s breadth of reaching a new all-time high last Friday, fuelled by signals of progress in U.S.-China trade talks and the latest batch of corporate earnings. The fact that the market is close to a record high despite negative earnings growth shows that the weakness was well expected. With over 60% of firms still to report, earning season will remain a focus of the markets in the coming weeks.

The thawing in trade relations between the U.S. and China and diminished hard Brexit probability are also both relevant to the Eurozone. The currency bloc saw some tentative stabilisation in PMI data last week, but a full turnaround in growth prospects has yet to fully materialise. In the U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed in his bid to get lawmakers to back an election on December 12 and, as always, Brexit developments are likely to come thick and fast this week. CLICK HERE