UKX FTSE 100 Index

MARKET WRAPS

Watch For:

U.K. Halifax House Price Index; Germany Industrial Production Index; EU Q3 GDP; EU Employment; Germany ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment; EU ECOFIN meeting of EU finance ministers.

Opening Call:

European stocks should open higher, while London's FTSE 100 may waver at the open. U.S. stock futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. U.S. dollar strengthens. Oil and gold rise.

Equities:

European stocks are set to open higher, fueled by investors' bets that the Omicron Covid-19 variant may cause milder illness than previously feared, renewing confidence in consumer and travel demand.

Scientists and vaccine makers have sent mixed signals regarding the severity of Omicron and how well existing vaccines may work against it. It still may be weeks before a more definitive picture forms.

Investors are also weighing high inflation readouts and the potential for the Federal Reserve to hasten the reduction of its pandemic stimulus measures to combat the surge in consumer prices. This could leave the door open to an interest-rate increase in the first half of 2022

Reports from South Africa, where omicron first was spotted, that hospitals haven't been overwhelmed "is fueling some optimism" among traders who sold earlier, said Yeap Jun Rong of IG in a report.

Airlines, cruise lines and other travel companies that stand to gain from avoiding more anti-coronavirus controls advanced after Dr. Anthony Fauci said early indications suggested omicron may be less dangerous than the earlier delta variant.

Meanwhile, travel to retail and recreation destinations, restaurant bookings and flights have all declined in Europe in the past few weeks as coronavirus restrictions have been tightened in the face of rising hospital admissions, Capital Economics said.

Eurozone GDP growth will be lower than the 0.7% forecast by Capital Economics in the fourth quarter, Capital Economics' Chief Europe Economist Andrew Kenningham said. The Omicron coronavirus variant has added to downside risks, he said.

Capital Economics also said eurozone inflation probably peaked at nearly 5% in November. "If restrictions are tightened sharply, energy inflation may fall more than we have assumed, pulling headline inflation down a bit further and faster than we are assuming," Kenningham added.

Read why Generali Insurance Asset Management said European stocks look a better bet than U.S. stocks here.

Forex:

USD/JPY rose as concerns ease for now about the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The pair's clear breach of the recent resistance around 113.60 likely opens up upside toward 114.00. Investors remain focused on Omicron developments, governments' responses to it and U.S. economic data in coming sessions.

The dollar strengthened against the euro and against the yen, and the WSJ Dollar Index inched higher. Friday's consumer-price report is seen providing further justification for speeding up asset-purchase reductions at the Fed's December meeting, suggesting risks are tilted to the downside, Karl Schamotta at Cambridge Global Payments said.

"If price growth shows evidence of moderation, investors could push monetary tightening expectations out slightly--reducing upward pressure on the dollar."

The chief market strategist is watching yield-curve dynamics, saying last week's moves, in which rate-hike expectations were brought forward even as long yields fell, weren't necessarily dollar-supportive, "suggesting that the US economy might prove unable to bear higher interest costs in the years ahead. If expectations of lower terminal rates become more entrenched, the dollar could lose some altitude."

The prospect of the Bank of England raising interest rates before other central banks will offer limited support to sterling in 2022 due to Brexit, Societe Generale said.

"We remain nervous that the U.K. inflation/growth trade-off has been harmed by Brexit (i.e., U.K. supply-chain difficulties are worse than elsewhere for an obvious reason), and this means the support the currency gets from earlier rate rises will be limited," SocGen forex strategist Kit Juckes said.

By the fourth quarter of 2022, SocGen sees EUR/GBP little changed at 0.85 and predicts GBP/USD will fall to 1.29, from 1.3247 currently, as the Federal Reserve is also expected to lift rates while the European Central Bank leaves rates on hold.

Bonds:

The yield on 10-year German government bonds, or Bunds, will "probably have room" to nudge towards the 0% mark in 2022, but it is unlikely to move beyond that level, said Antonio Cavarero, head of investments at Generali Insurance Asset Management, which manages EUR470 billion worth of assets.

Employment and inflation data support faster monetary tightening, Deutsche Bank said, noting last week's nonfarm payrolls showed a declining headline unemployment rate alongside a falling U-6 rate (which includes discouraged job seekers and the underemployed) and rising labor-force participation.

"In addition, the metrics that Fed policymakers have focused on with respect to their 'broad-based and inclusive' definition of maximum employment showed steady improvement," DB said. Its economists expect Friday's CPI to bring "sturdy gains," with headline inflation rising to 6.9% and core CPI to 5.1%.

Read comments from Aegon AM on why fixed-income investors face a challenging 2022 here.

Energy:

Oil gained in early Asian trade as concerns over the Covid-19 Omicron variant ease. Hopes that the new variant will have a less damaging economic impact have been supported by reports from South Africa that patients there showed only mild symptoms, Phillip Securities said.

Oil is also supported by expectations of a quick return of Iranian oil into the market easing, after the U.S. said that chances of Iran rejoining the nuclear deal may be slipping, ANZ said.

The CEO of Saudi Aramco presses the case for the continuance of fossil-fuel investment at the World Petroleum Congress in Houston. The predominant energy transition strategy "is deeply flawed," because "alternatives are nowhere near ready to carry a big enough load," said Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, speaking to an audience made up mostly of people from the oil and gas industry.

He warned of economic consequences from halting investment in oil and gas. "I understand that publicly admitting oil and gas will play an essential and significant role during the transition and beyond will be hard for some," Nasser said. "But admitting this reality will be easier than dealing with energy insecurity, rampant inflation and social unrest if prices become intolerably high."

Metals:

Gold rose in early Asian trade, after declining overnight on a higher U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury yields. The precious metal may consolidate in a $1,750-$1,800 trading range alongside growing optimism that the Covid-19 Omicron variant is unlikely to lead to widespread lockdowns. Early data on the variant suggests that cases are mild, Oanda said.

Copper gained in Asian trading following China's move to ease liquidity, ANZ said. Prices are also being supported by the mounting supply risk in South America, ANZ noted.

The Las Bambas copper mine in Peru is planning to halt production amid protests by community groups, it said.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

China's Exports Stay Strong as Surplus Contracts in November

BEIJING-China's exports beat market expectations in November, though the growth rate decelerated from October due to a higher base compared with the same period a year earlier.

Outbound shipments rose 22% from a year earlier in November, slowing from a 27% increase in October, the General Administration of Customs said Tuesday. The result surpassed the 16.1% growth rate expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

RBA Says Omicron Won't Derail Economic Recovery

SYDNEY-The Reserve Bank of Australia left its official cash rate steady at 0.10% at its monthly policy meeting Tuesday, indicating it will be some time before the required conditions for an increase will be in place and addressing concerns about the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus.

"The emergence of the Omicron strain is a new source of uncertainty, but it is not expected to derail the recovery," RBA Gov. Philip Lowe said in a statement. "The economy is expected to return to its pre-Delta path in the first half of 2022."

Balmy Forecasts Send Natural Gas Prices Plunging

The threat of sky-high heating bills is melting away.

Unusually warm weather pushed U.S. natural gas futures down 11.5% on Monday to $3.657 per million British thermal units. That is down more than 40% from October's peak, erasing a run-up that stoked fears of exorbitant heating bills biting into household budgets and manufacturers' balance sheets already stressed by broad inflation.

Should Investors Ride Tech Founders to the Moon?

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey's resignation letter included some parting words of caution: Being "founder-led," he wrote, can be "severely limiting and a single point of failure" for a business.

The advice probably fell on deaf ears. As Mr. Dorsey wrote: "There aren't many founders who choose their company over their own ego." And, in another sign that irony is dead, he remains chief executive of payments company Square Inc., soon to be known as Block, which he co-founded in 2009. But investors aren't bound by the same hubris. Should they be cautious about buying into companies where a founder might have stayed too long at the party?

Supply Chains in Southeast Asia Are Less Vulnerable After Delta-Driven Disruptions

SINGAPORE-The Delta-driven wave of infections wreaked havoc on supply-chains when it tore across Southeast Asia this summer, disrupting production of everything from semiconductors to sneakers and raising prices for Western consumers.

But countries like Vietnam and Malaysia have learned from that experience and are better prepared for fresh waves of the virus, economists and factory operators say, as the new Omicron variant spreads globally.

Saudi Aramco Sells Stake in Natural-Gas Pipeline Business

Saudi Aramco agreed to sell a 49% stake in its natural-gas pipeline business to a consortium led by BlackRock Inc. and Saudi-backed Hassana Investment Co. for $15.5 billion-the state-owned oil giant's latest move to pull cash out of its vast energy infrastructure.

The deal follows a pattern used when Aramco agreed to sell a similar sized stake in its oil pipeline network in April for $12.4 billion to a group led by EIG Global Energy Partners. Aramco, officially called the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said Monday it had formed a new subsidiary, Aramco Gas Pipelines Co., that will lease usage rights in Aramco's gas-pipelines network. It agreed to sell 49% of the new company to the consortium led by BlackRock unit BlackRock Real Assets and Hassana. Hassana is the asset-management arm of Saudi Arabia's General Organization for Social Insurance.

U.K. Retail Sales Rose in November on Black Friday Boost

Retail sales in the U.K. rose in November compared with the year before, according to the latest report by KPMG and the British Retail Consortium.

British retail sales between Oct. 31 and Nov. 27 rose 5.0% compared with the same period a year before, the report found. This was well above growth of 0.9% noted in November 2020, and exceeds the three-month average growth rate of 2.2%.

CIA Chief Says Intelligence Agencies Haven't Concluded Russia Will Invade Ukraine

WASHINGTON-U. S. intelligence agencies haven't concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin will invade Ukraine, but he has assembled military forces that "could act in a very sweeping way" and may see an opportunity to move this winter, CIA Director William Burns said Monday.

"I would never underestimate President Putin's risk appetite on Ukraine, " Mr. Burns said at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Summit. He noted remarks Mr. Putin has made that Moscow should have significant influence over Ukraine, a neighbor.

VW's CEO Likely to Survive Latest Clash With Labor

BERLIN-Volkswagen AG CEO Herbert Diess is likely to survive his latest clash with labor representatives over the pace of the company's transformation to an electric-vehicle maker after weeks of negotiations produced a compromise that would strip the outspoken executive of some of his duties, people familiar with the talks said Monday.

Mr. Diess has been under fire for weeks since warning the company's board of directors in the fall that unless VW greatly accelerated its shift to electric vehicles it could lose up to 30,000 jobs at its main operations in Wolfsburg, Germany, around half of the workforce at the plant.

Budweiser Tries to Make Beer Stocks Fashionable Again

Budweiser's new boss thinks beer has as bright a future as liquor. Shareholders aren't swallowing it yet.

Michel Doukeris, who took over as chief executive of Anheuser Busch InBev in July, set out his strategy for the world's biggest brewer at an investor day Monday. He plans to grow earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by 4% to 8% a year "over the medium term."

MTIP, a Swiss Healthtech Investor, Raises $250 Million for Its Second Fund

Swiss healthtech private-equity firm MTIP AG has collected $250 million for its second investment fund, with the goal of backing companies at the nexus of two expanding industry sectors.

Based in Basel, the firm said it closed the fund above its $225 million target. The first fund-a "proof of concept" vehicle-collected $65 million in 2016, according to Christoph Kausch, managing partner of the firm.

Biden to Warn Putin Off Invasion of Ukraine

WASHINGTON-President Biden spoke Monday with European allies ahead of a call with Vladimir Putin in which he will warn the Russian president not to invade Ukraine, officials said.

Mr. Biden "will make clear that there will be very real costs should Russia choose to proceed, but he will also make clear that there is an effective way forward with respect to diplomacy," a senior administration official said about the call with Mr. Putin scheduled for Tuesday.

Elon Musk Comes Out Against Federal Electric-Vehicle Spending

Elon Musk took aim at a signature Biden administration legislative proposal and said China is adjusting to its growing position as a dominant world power in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The Tesla Inc. chief executive criticized federal efforts meant to spur electric-vehicle adoption, including a bill that would boost incentives for buying battery-powered cars.

Samsung Replaces CEOs, Merges Mobile and Consumer Electronics Businesses

SEOUL-Samsung Electronics Co., in a surprise move, replaced the heads of its three major business units and merged the company's mobile and consumer electronics businesses into a single unit.

The shake-up leaves two co-CEOs atop the world's largest maker of smartphones, televisions and semiconductors. Samsung has ambitious investment plans to compete against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on advanced chipmaking, while striving to fend off Chinese rivals with phones and other gadgets.

Intel to List Shares in Mobileye Unit

Intel Corp. is planning to publicly list shares in its Mobileye self-driving-car unit, the latest move by Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger to revive the semiconductor giant's fortunes.

Intel said it would take the unit public in the U.S. in mid-2022 through an initial public offering of new Mobileye stock. The move, earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal, could value Mobileye at north of $50 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

SEC Opens Probe Into Tesla Involving Solar-Cell Activity

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Tesla Inc. that touches at least in part on the company's solar-cell activity.

The SEC acknowledged the probe in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by a former Tesla employee who previously filed a complaint with the SEC, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The person alleged in the complaint to the regulator back in 2019 that Tesla and SolarCity, the solar-cell business it acquired, failed to properly notify shareholders and the public of fire risks associated with its equipment, according to one of the documents.

Write to sarka.halas@wsj.com

Expected Major Events for Tuesday

00:01/UK: Nov BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor

05:30/NED: Nov CPI

06:45/SWI: Nov Unemployment

07:00/GER: Oct Industrial Production Index

07:00/DEN: Oct Industrial production & new orders

07:00/NOR: Oct Industrial Production Index

07:00/ROM: 3Q GDP

07:00/UK: Nov Halifax House Price Index

07:45/FRA: Oct Foreign trade

07:45/FRA: Oct Balance of Payments

08:00/HUN: Oct Preliminary Industrial Production

08:00/SWI: Nov SNB foreign currency reserves

08:00/CZE: Oct Industry, Construction

08:00/CZE: Oct External trade

08:00/AUT: Sep Foreign Trade

08:30/SWE: Oct New orders & deliveries in industry

08:30/SWE: Oct Industrial Production Index

09:00/BUL: 3Q GDP - preliminary data

09:00/ICE: Nov External trade, preliminary figures

10:00/EU: 3Q GDP and Main Aggregates Estimate

10:00/EU: 3Q Employment

10:00/GER: Dec ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment

All times in GMT. Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 07, 2021 00:26 ET (05:26 GMT)

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