The US government continues its
political standstill, with only a few days left to resolve the nation’s debt
crisis.

A scheduled White House meeting for congressional leaders from both parties has
been postponed to allow talks on raising the nation’s debt limit and to reopen
the government. Obama also added that he saw “some progress” in the talks,
ahead of Thursday’s deadline for the US to raise its $16.7tn (£10.5tn)
borrowing limit or risk defaulting on its debt.  

The US government continues its
political standstill, with only a few days left to resolve the nation’s debt
crisis.

A scheduled White House meeting for congressional leaders from both parties has
been postponed to allow talks on raising the nation’s debt limit and to reopen
the government. Obama also added that he saw “some progress” in the talks,
ahead of Thursday’s deadline for the US to raise its $16.7tn (£10.5tn)
borrowing limit or risk defaulting on its debt.  

US
Senate leaders have expressed optimism after a flurry of negotiations on
raising the federal debt ceiling to avert a potentially disastrous default. The
deal currently under discussion would fund the government until 15 January
while raising the debt ceiling until early to mid-February. Senate Democratic
Majority Leader Harry Reid told the chamber on Monday evening: “We’ve made
tremendous progress”.

The UK’s consumer price index beat
market expectations coming in at 2.7% instead of 2.6% this morning
strengthening the pound in early morning trade  

We have had mixed data from the euro
zone this morning with the German ZEW survey of economic sentiment beating
expectations to rise to 52.8 from 49.6. But the ZEW survey of economic
sentiment for the euro zone as a collective fell shy of expectations. Despite
the encouraging data from Germany, the euro has started to weaken off.

Looking ahead of the week, the US
will still be focusing on resolving its debt ceiling lapsing on Thursday. UK
unemployment rate and retail sales will be in focus and the euro zone are
expecting their latest inflation figures.

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