Hamas-Israel 'ceasefire' / ECB's Schnabel : not so fast with cuts / Yellen : REIT risk / SHCOMP / CHF / VdL under pressure

ECB's Schnabel : ECB must be patient with rate cuts, lowering borrowing costs risk 'flare up' of inflation >>> ECB was very late to hike rates, chances are they will be late to cut them >>> >>> the biggest surprise of 2024 could very well be that major CB's do not deliver anywhere neat the cuts that are priced in already by markets...

Hamas proposes three-stage ceasefire over 135 days, leading to end of war and Saudi Arabia says there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel without an independent Palestinian state

German Ind prod fell again in Dec, it is now 14% less than at it peak 7y ago

NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt has pulled out of the ongoing talks on forming a new Dutch government, saying there is no point in holding any meetings on forming a majority right-wing government

‘A slow fiscal death’ awaits some countries in this ‘decade of debt,’ says economist Arthur Laffer >> U.S Credit card debt has ticked up to another new high of $1.13trn

European Wind giant Orsted is out with another pretty weak earnings report

India top be the largest source of oil demand growth until 2030 - IEA

The farming lobby won: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she will withdraw a plan to cut the use of pesticides by 50%. Slowly, Brussels is rolling back on its green agenda. European elections in June are forcing the change

UK’s biggest housebuilder Barratt to buy rival Redrow for £2.5bn

Yellen : (hardly a surprise but they admit the problem) - “I don’t want to comment on the situation of an individual bank, but commercial real estate is an area that we’ve long been aware could create financial stability risks or losses in the banking system, and this is something that requires careful supervisory attention"

Global silver demand is forecast to reach 1.2 billion ounces in 2024, which would mark the second-highest level on record, the Silver Institute said in a recent report

Markets : DAX 17K, equity in general still firm(er), unphased by much, though 'insider' selling in the U.S on highs again, big techs has probably overdone it by now, but sellers need a tigger to sell. USD on firm side going into UST auctions, 10's UST resistance in yield terms 4.10-4.15 area key for curve and QQQ, CHF slightly softer perhaps on Hamas news (charts- our view CHF is about to weaken in med term) and Chinese markets beginning to please those contrarians buyers in Jan 2024 !