Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 75.17 million with over 1,666,000 official deaths.
Key Points:
- Germany has seen a record number of deaths Wednesday, the first day of new partial lockdowns with a total of 952 people dying.
- New Zealand Trade Balance for November 252M vs 255M expected
- The UK are bracing for tier 3 lockdown restrictions as mounting pressures in parliament mount to prevent Christmas closures and further restrictions.
- Progress in the Brexit negotiations is slow, but a deal of sorts looks like it could be in the throes of being confirmed before the 31 December deadline. Johnson says they are making efforts to accommodate EU requests in the short time they have left.
- US congress is close to closing in on a 900B COVID-19 relief stimulus plan. 12M people stand to lose their unemployment benefits on the 26th of December if a deal fails to make law.
- New Zealand Consumer Confidence rose to 4.8% from -1.7% prior
- 885,000 people filed for unemployment in the US last week, a rise of 30,000 from the prior week, an alarming trend given the rise of coronavirus cases. Deaths are now over 17M