Comments by Irish prime minister, Micheál Martin
– The gap is still wide on fisheries
– If there is a breakthrough tonight or tomorrow, EU officials would work on text on Christmas day
Both sides are still not pulling the plug (and I wouldn’t expect them to in all honesty) as we get closer to the transition period deadline

Gold is trading up by over 5% since the start of the month
Despite a bit of a pullback from $1,900 from earlier in the week, gold has had a stellar month so far and if the is anything to go by, January promises to be yet another solid month for gold buyers.

European equities keep slightly higher to start the day
No stimulus? No worries. At least that is what Europe is going with for the time being. The DAX is trading up by 0.7% while other European indices are posting a slight advance on the day, with S&P 500 futures also trading up by 0.2% currently.

GBP/USD falls from 1.3440 to 1.3362 before paring the drop as traders sort out Brexit headlines in thinner market conditions
The pound is looking a little messy in the past hour or so as a rehash of the headline that the EU has rejected the latest UK proposal on fisheries (already out since yesterday ), weighed

Politico reports on the matter
The cites an official familiar with the phone call held yesterday between UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, and European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, as an 11th hour attempt to strike a compromise on fisheries.

RKI says that they are not aware of the new variant of the coronavirus in Germany as of the present situation
Although, they do concede that the likelihood of the new variant being found is very high. And I would suspect that is the case for most countries across the globe, honestly.

S&P 500 futures erase earlier losses to turn positive
Either way, US futures have turned higher as European equities are pushing gains of a little over 1% across the board currently.

Just a heads up in case there is anything relevant
Though, I reckon we’ll hear the same old story about fisheries and how there is still no room for compromise just yet. The fact that no deal can be ratified in time for the new year has taken away the „pressure“ from talks, leaving 31 December

An ugly day in Europe so far this morning
The DAX is now on approach to its 13 November low near 13,000 as the index falls by a whopping 4% on the session now, as the risk aversion deepens.

Latest data released by CBI – 21 December 2020
„It says something about the challenges the retail sector has faced during 2020 that stable volumes in the run-up to Christmas were seen as a good result for the time of the year. The new year looks set for an unpromising start, with retailers anticipating a sharp