Equities get another jump on the headlines
– Experimental vaccine found to be over 90% effective in preventing COVID-19
– No serious safety concerns have been identified as of first interim analysis
S&P 500 futures just hit a record high and are up by over 2% now with USD/JPY rising to a session high of 103.92 and closing

Equities stay in a more upbeat mood throughout the day so far
The market is feeling more upbeat as the curtains come down on the US election, but there are still some considerations for investors ahead of the year-end.

EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, is back in London for more Brexit talks
He tweets:
Happy to be back in London today, redoubling our efforts to reach agreement on the future partnership.

Adds that OPEC+ output deal could be extended if needed to be
– We can tweak OPEC+ deal if there is consensus
– New lockdowns won’t impact demand to same extent as in April
I reckon they can be pleased that the dollar slump in the past week has helped to take some of the focus away from

AP have called the win for Biden:
Joining in on pronouncing the inevitable, NBC and CNN have also both projected Biden has won the US presidency. Edison Research also. 

Data was released over the weekend for China trade balance’s last month 
A surplus of 401.75bn yuan
Exports +7.6% y/y vs.
Imports +0.9% y/y
USD terms
China trade balance: 58.44bn vs.

Biden holds lead in key four states.
Former VP Biden continues to hold the lead in the 4 key states.  The leads widened in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Nevada. The lead for Biden narrowed in Arizona, but he still maintains a lead of close to 30,000 in that state.

No breakthrough in talks
There was a brief pop in sterling on Friday on news that Boris Johnson and EU president Ursula von der Leyen would speak in a phone call today. The hope was for a breakthrough but it hasn’t come.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has the virus
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows was diagnosed with covid-19 on Wednesday, just hours after he attended Trump’s declaration of victory party without a mask.

Lead moves to 4,263
The votes came from Gwinnett County