Economics
German manufacturers announced widespread job cuts and plant closures as industrial weakness deepened, and economists said Chancellor Merz's economic program had failed to revive growth.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the Office for Budget Responsibility's inadvertent pre-release of budget material was a "serious error" and urged accountability after the watchdog called it its "worst failure."
Amazon and other online retailers offered steep Cyber Monday discounts on electronics and home goods, which extended Black Friday bargains and boosted online sales across major markets.
Tesla sold about half as many cars across European countries year-on-year, though sales surged in Norway as buyers rushed purchases ahead of an expected Jan. 1 electric-vehicle tax change.
Bitcoin fell below $86,000 after a brief recovery, extending losses amid investor uncertainty following a series of negative developments in cryptocurrency markets.
Wall Street's major indexes fell Monday as investors awaited U.S. economic data and the Federal Reserve's upcoming interest-rate decision, intensifying early-December market volatility.
President Donald Trump in Washington said he had picked a successor to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, asserting he knew the choice but did not publicly name the nominee.
SIPRI said the 100 largest arms producers' sales reached a record $679 billion in 2024, driven by wars in Ukraine and Gaza and rising global military spending.
Speculation that President Trump would replace Fed Chair Powell with Hassett and signals from Japan’s central bank pushed Asian markets mixed, dollar down and Japanese yields and yen up.
European governments announced modest pension increases and reforms that left retirees with only tiny gains while economists warned the measures would worsen fiscal pressures and prompt future tax hikes.
Norwegian new-car sales surged in November after the government signaled changes to the electric-vehicle VAT exemption, producing a record increase with about one-third of registrations Tesla.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said global arms sales reached a record in 2024 as wars and conflicts boosted defense spending, with German firms rising and China falling.
Shares of Monte dei Paschi di Siena plunged in Milan trading, dragging the FTSE MIB lower while bitcoin fell and gold rose.
Spain's government failed to reach an agreement with self-employed associations on updated Social Security contributions, leaving more than three million self-employed workers likely to face a 2026 freeze, sources said.
