The EU is expected to announce its decision on a Brexit extension today. Thus far, indicators points to a broad consensus to move the deadline three months, but France is said to prefer an extension until only November – and it only needs one member state to veto.
Mario Draghi has held his last meeting as President of the ECB, warning that risks to the eurozone as still high, particularly due to ‘geopolitic[s], rising protectionism and vulnerabilities in emerging markets’. He called for increased government spending, and reiterated that the ‘euro is irreversible’, as support among Italy’s far-right politicians for the single currency ebbs. Interest rates were held at zero, and flash PMI figures largely came in as expected, showing little movement from the previous month.
This morning, German consumer confidence data came in at 9.6 heading into November 2019 from a downwardly revised 9.8 in the previous month and missing market consensus of 9.8. This was the lowest reading since November 2016, amid concerns over global economic downturn, trade conflicts, Brexit chaos and rising fears of job losses.
