MNI US Open: Waiting To Unwrap A Deal

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• BREXIT DEAL EXPECTED TO BE ANNOUNCED THURSDAY AFTER FISH COMPROMISE
• HOUSE GOP POISED TO BLOCK PELOSI'S BID FOR $2K RELIEF CHECKS (BBG)
• CHINA TO SUSPEND DIRECT FLIGHTS TO AND FROM THE U.K.

Fig.1: UK Small Cap Stocks Hit All-Time High With Brexit Deal Eyed

BBG, MNI

NEWS:

BREXIT (BBG): The U.K. and the European Union are on the verge of unveiling a historic post-Brexit trade accord as negotiators work through the night to put the finishing touches to a compromise on fishing rights. The agreement will comprise a deal for tariff and quota-free trade in goods and cooperation in areas from security to aviation. While the outline of a deal was agreed on Wednesday, an announcement is now expected Thursday morning as chief negotiators in the European Commission's headquarters in Brussels haggle over the exact wording of the final treaty.

BREXIT (BBG): One EU diplomat said the U.K. had made concessions on fisheries in recent hours that had unlocked the deal. According to two people familiar with the matter, Johnson has accepted that the bloc's share of the catch in U.K. waters should fall by 25% over a period of five-and-a-half years. Britain had initially sought an 80% reduction over just three years, but in recent days had offered a cut of 30%. The bloc had refused to accept a reduction of more than 25% in the value of fish caught, saying even that was hard for countries like France and Denmark to accept, according to officials with knowledge of the discussions.

BREXIT: Earlier it'd been reported that we could see a presser announcing the deal at 8am GMT, but equally, multiple outlets (BBC, Guardian) have said that's going to be delayed to 10am GMT or later. Times' Bruno Waterfield reporting that there's still aholdup on fish: "Christmas Eve morning and the brawl over the numbers on fishing quotas is still going on...Line by line, herring by herring, pollock by pollack takes time. Especially when there are several negotiarions going on. The big one EU-UK and then lots of internal European talks on sharing the cuts...The French are resisting cuts to the value of fish, often in UK territory waters worth less than E3.5m a year under the phase in. Predictable"

BREXIT: @rtenews "Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said early morning briefings have been postponed and both sides are still negotiating and finalising a deal" Also Reuters reporting BRUSSELS BRIEFING ON FISH DUE AT 0830 GMT HAS BEEN POSTPONED AS TALKS CONTINUE

BREXIT: Political Website Guido Fawkes writes: "An internal government analysis of the deal set to be announced this morning scores the 65 key issues on the table during the negotiations. The government's view is that the UK has won more than twice as many victories as the EU; with 28 UK wins (43%), 11 EU wins (17%) and 26 "mutual compromises" (40%)."

BREXIT (POLITICO): Playbook spoke to/WhatsApped half a dozen MPs from the European Research Group of Conservative backbenchers last night, and all but one of them were effusive with praise for the PM and his negotiating team, implying they were minded to back the deal so long as it didn't contain any especially nasty surprises. The other ERG MP was more strongly critical of the reported settlement on fish. In reality, how much of a challenge Johnson faces internally depends on whether any particularly egregious horrors are discovered in the text by eagle-eyed Euroskeptic experts and tweeters over the next few days.

U.S. FISCAL (BBG):House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told fellow Republicans Wednesday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's attempt to pass a bill boosting stimulus payments for individuals to $2,000 will fail, according to a person who participated in a private call with GOP House members. Pelosi swiftly took up President Donald Trump's demand for larger payments to individuals in the coronavirus relief package Congress passed Monday night, seeking to approve it in the House on Thursday. Pelosi's plan to seek unanimous consent to increase the direct payments to $2,000 from the $600 in Monday's bill can be blocked by a single lawmaker. Republicans planned to halt her attempt.

CHINA/UK/COVID (RTRS): China will suspend direct flights to and from the United Kingdom, Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday, citing the emergence of a new coronavirus strain. "After much consideration, China has decided to take reference from others countries and suspend flights to and from UK," Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.

BOJ: The Bank of Japan should be nimble in making an effective response when needed to counter possible changes in economic activity and prices, or financial conditions. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told a business leaders conference Thursday. Kuroda also noted that the assessment for further "effective and sustainable monetary easing with a view to achieving the price stability target of 2%. Its findings will be made public, likely at the March 2021 MPM."

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