Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:

(1) Honda and Nissan are exploring a merger, according to people familiar with the matter, that would create a singular rival to Toyota in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world.

(2) Federal Reserve officials are likely to lower borrowing costs for a third-straight meeting this week while also signaling fewer interest-rate cuts next year than previously projected.

(3) First it was a collapse in the currency. Now the rest of Brazil’s financial markets are in the cross-hairs as investors lose faith in the government’s ability to contain a deepening fiscal crisis.

(4) UK government borrowing costs rose to the highest level in decades relative to Germany’s, as traders grew increasingly skeptical over how much more easing the Bank of England will manage to deliver next year.

(5) The UK government risks baking in higher energy costs for consumers as it pushes to meet a challenging — and upgraded — target to decarbonize the country’s power supply by 2030.

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Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:

(1) The majority of Britain’s biggest listed companies will together account for less than 3% of the revenue raised by Labour‘s increased payroll tax, Bloomberg analysis shows, despite Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s promise to target “those with the broadest shoulders.”

(2) Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to boost ties with Beijing faces new hurdles after a Chinese businessman’s close links to Prince Andrew spurred demands for tougher restrictions on China’s operatives in the UK.

(3) President-elect Donald Trump said Ukraine needs to reach a deal to end the Russian invasion and downplayed the value of occupied land, in the latest signal he may push for a settlement that codifies Russian territorial gains.

(4) Donald Trump failed to convince a judge to set aside his conviction in the New York hush money case on presidential immunity grounds, though it’s unclear if the case will still proceed to sentencing as the president-elect continues to challenge the verdict.

(5) Germany is headed for months of political deadlock as voters return to the ballot box for another federal election in February and with coalition negotiations potentially lasting several months after that.

(6) The Bank of France cut its domestic growth outlook just days after President Emmanuel Macron named the country’s fourth prime minister in a year, with the central bank citing the political upheaval as a drag on household and business confidence.

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Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:

(1) Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz will submit to a parliamentary vote of confidence today, which he intends to lose, triggering an early election on the 23rd of February. The country's economy is now 5% smaller than it would have been if the pre-pandemic growth trend had been maintained.

(2) France’s Prime Minister Francois Bayrou will meet with far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Monday, kicking off an effort to form a government that can push a budget through a divided Parliament.

(3) UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves is resisting calls from English mayors to extend their revenue-raising abilities, an awkward clash that comes as her government launches its plan to extend more powers to local leaders.

(4) French TV network Canal+ is set to become the largest listing on London's stock market in two years. Analysts expect the company will float with a 5 billion pound valuation when the market opens.

(5) China’s retail sales growth unexpectedly weakened in November despite signs of improvement in the housing market, highlighting the urgency for Beijing to further encourage residents to spend..

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Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Tom Busby takes a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week.

• In the US – a preview of next week’s Fed decision and earnings from Nike.
• In the UK – a preview of the Bank of England’s monetary policy decision.
• In Asia – a look ahead to upcoming economic data in China.

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Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:

(1) French President Emmanuel Macron will name a new prime minister this morning via a statement, his office said on Thursday evening.

(2) Klarna Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Siemiatkowski said his company was able to stop hiring a year ago as it invested in artificial intelligence that’s doing the work of hundreds of staff across the firm.

(3) European Central Bank policymakers expect to cut interest rates by another quarter point in January and probably also in March as inflation stabilizes at the 2% target and economic growth remains sluggish, according to officials familiar with their thinking.

(4) UK consumer confidence remained subdued in December with households reluctant to splash out on big-ticket items ahead of Christmas amid ongoing economic uncertainty, a survey found.

(5) Russia is nearing an agreement with Syria’s new leadership to keep two vital military bases in the Middle East state, a key objective of the Kremlin after the fall of its ally Bashar al-Assad.

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Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:

(1) Fresh inflation figures are likely to make the Federal Reserve more cautious about the pace of interest-rate cuts — but not quite yet.

(2) Traders increased bets on interest-rate cuts from the European Central Bank following a similar move in Federal Reserve expectations, and now see 158 basis points of easing through the end of 2025, the most in a week.

(3) US President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month, CBS reported, citing multiple sources.

(4) US economic indicators can move global markets by trillions of dollars at a time. The agencies that collect and publish those statistics have been pleading for an extra few million, to maintain the integrity of the financial world’s most important numbers.

(5) A closely watched gauge of UK house prices hit its highest in over two years in November as buyers were buoyed by a Bank of England interest-rate cut and an end to uncertainty over Labour’s first budget.

(6) All it takes is one hacker and a batch of faulty solar panels to threaten the safety of Europe’s electric grid.

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Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:

(1) London's IPO market has declined 9% this year, with only $1 billion raised, pushing the UK to 20th place in global IPO rankings.

(2) Various trade unions criticized the UK government over public sector pay proposals for next year, raising the prospect of potential industrial action and tensions that would be a blow to Keir Starmer’s administration.

(3) The Biden administration is weighing new, harsher sanctions against Russia’s lucrative oil trade, seeking to tighten the squeeze on the Kremlin’s war machine just weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House.

(4) The suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson is fighting being sent to New York to face a second-degree murder charge, setting up a potentially long legal process to prosecute Luigi Mangione.

(5) French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to free his government from the stranglehold of National Rally leader Marine Le Pen by piecing together a coalition of moderates that will last until 2027.

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Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:

(1) Female representation in the boardroom almost tripled since 2010, with the most gender-diverse companies delivering higher shareholder returns compared to male-dominated boards, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

(2) Women are controlling ever-greater sums of money around the world, setting the stage for major shifts in wealth management and philanthropy.

(3) One of the world's most prominent female CEOs is Jane Fraser, the boss of Citi Group. Currently halfway through her 5-year plan to turn around the bank, she tells Bloomberg she's now focusing her efforts on improving technology, reducing costs, and growing fee revenues.

(4) The rebel group that toppled Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad tasked Mohammed Al Bashir to form a transitional government, Syrian television reported.

(5) Luigi Mangione, a “person of interest” in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive Brian Thompson, was charged with possessing an illegal gun and using a fake identification after being arrested in Pennsylvania on Monday.

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