| Advertisement
Here is what you need to know. 1. 'Trump has made us weak' — Paul Krugman says the US-China trade deal achieved almost nothing, and consumers and farmers paid the price. "However Trump may try to spin this, he lost," the Nobel Prize-winning economist tweeted. 2. China's industrial-output growth in November beats expectations. Industrial output grew by 6.2% year-on-year, an acceleration from 4.7% growth in October, official data showed. 3. The UK government is not 'match-fit' for the next stage of Brexit talks, says a former Downing Street adviser. Raoul Ruparel said it was possible for Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government to strike a "narrow and shallow" free trade deal with the EU in the 11-month transition period, but it's not currently ready for the challenge. 4. Cineworld tops North American box office with Cineplex deal. The British cinema group has agreed to buy its Canadian peer for $1.65 billion in cash, creating the biggest cinema operator in North America. 5. H&M's sales grow 5% in the fourth quarter. The world's second-biggest fashion retailer blamed a smaller-than-expected rise in sales on Black Friday falling later this year. 6. IFF to merge with DuPont's $26.2 billion nutrition unit. International Flavors & Fragrances has agreed to merge with DuPont's nutrition and biosciences unit to create a $45 billion company. 7. Oil prices fall but hold near three-month high on trade deal agreement. "We are going to need further news if we are going to push through the important (technical) resistance that is just ahead of crude oil," one analyst said. 8. Stocks are mostly in the green. US futures underlying the Dow (+0.2%), S&P 500 (+0.4%), and Nasdaq (+0.4%) are up, signaling a positive open. European stocks are rising with the DAX (+0.6%) and the Euro Stoxx 50 (+0.8%) higher and the FTSE 100 up sharply (+2.2%). Asian stocks were mixed at the close, with the Nikkei (-0.3%) and Hang Seng (-0.7%) both down, while the Shanghai Composite (+0.6%) rose. 9. There's a raft of earnings out today. Nike and Scholastic are among the companies reporting. 10. It's a big day for data. IHS Markit PMI and NAHB housing-market data are scheduled for release. | 
