A leading measure of investor confidence in Germany is expected to rebound after last month’s decline, which was the first since August.

An analysts’ poll predicted that the forward-looking economic sentiment reading from a survey conducted by Germany’s ZEW economic institute will improve to 40.0 points from last month’s 38.5.

The institute’s current conditions indicator is expected to stay in negative territory -- its home since December 2021–– by improving to -76.2 from -78.7 in November.

The performance of German blue chips in recent weeks and beyond offers a mixed indicator of the mood among investors: on Friday, the country’s leading equity index was down some 0.7% from a month ago but almost 21% higher this year.

German pollster Sentix said that its overall index of domestic investor sentiment fell to -22.7 points – the lowest mark since March – from -20.4 in November. The lines have been drawn between two groups of traders: “There is considerable disagreement among investor groups,” Sentix wrote. “Professional investors are quite optimistic … that there will be an economic recovery in the coming months. Private investors, on the other hand, strongly disagree.”

(LiveSquawk – Continue Reading)

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday releases its long-awaited combined employment reports for October and November, but a number of key details will be missing after the government shutdown prevented data collection, including October's unemployment rate, resulting in the first-ever gap in that critical data series.

The longest shutdown in history also forced the BLS to cancel the release of October's Consumer Price Index report. It is unclear what components of the October CPI will be available when the report for November is published on Thursday.

No survey of households was conducted to get information on employment status, among other details, required to calculate the unemployment rate for October. Government workers also did not make visits to supermarkets and stores to get the information needed to calculate the CPI and other price measures for October.

(MSN - Continue Reading)

U.S. administration officials signaled Monday a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine may be closer than ever. "We believe that we probably solve ... 90%, literally 90% of the issues between Ukraine and Russia, but there's some more things that have to be worked out," a U.S. official said during a phone call briefing with reporters.

U.S. officials spoke with reporters under the condition of anonymity on the robust discussions held in Berlin between U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and businessman Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the U.S.-authored peace plan.

A potential peace deal brokered over the weekend between U.S. officials and European allies include NATO Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine backed by robust security protocols, efforts to rebuild and reconstruct Ukraine following years of war, and deterrence efforts and punishments for any further Russian incursions, according to the U.S. officials.

(ABC - Continue Reading)

Bitcoin prices slumped Monday as investors veered away from risky cryptocurrency assets to start the final full trading week of 2025. Bitcoin fell to $85,774, having trading just under $90,000 overnight, according to CoinDesk. The world’s largest cryptocurrency has fallen 3.2% over the last 24 hours. It’s 32% off its record high of more than $126,000 reached in early October.

Popular altcoin XRP was down 4.8% at $1.89, while the second-largest crypto, Ethereum, dropped 4.7% to $2,935. Stocks tied to the crypto market also fell Monday. The exchanges Coinbase Global and Robinhood Markets were down 5.3% and 1.8%, respectively. Strategy, the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, dropped 7.6%.

A flurry of macroeconomic data this week could be a catalyst for a crypto comeback, particularly if jobs reports on Tuesday and inflation data on Thursday strengthen the case for another Federal Reserve rate cut in January. Risky assets like crypto tend to respond favorably to lower rates.

(MSN - Continue Reading)