Brief respite for US stimulus plan, ECB boosts asset purchases and Brexit Woes

Weekly Market Update 11 Dec 2020 – Brief respite for US stimulus plan, ECB boosts asset purchases and Brexit Woes

1. US lawmakers look set to pass a one-week spending bill but has made clear that anything beyond that would have to be contingent on the broader fiscal stimulus plan. With little progress made, it is increasingly unlikely that an agreement can be reached before the year end, which will result in millions of Americans losing their extra weekly unemployment checks

2. European Central Bank boosted asset purchases on Thursday, increasing their Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program by $500B and extending the program to 2022. Despite lowering growth forecast for 2021, they have raised it for 2020 and 2022, signalling less pessimism and expressing intentions to keep monetary policy easy for a long while

3. While most investors have held on to the belief that the UK would, at some point in time, throw in the towel and agree to an orderly exit out of the European Union, the looming deadline is eroding hope as both sides are preparing for contingencies as the final rounds of Brexit talks fall apart