Belgium’s prime minister has warned that the European Union’s push to tap frozen Russian state assets for Ukraine risks undermining future peace efforts, according to the Financial Times.In brief:PM Bart De Wever raised the concern in a letter to Commission chief von der Leyen.EU leaders failed last month to get Belgium’s backing for a €140bn loan scheme for Kyiv.Much of the Russian money is held in Belgium, giving Brussels significant leverage.The Commission will propose new legal text to address Belgian concerns this week. This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.

A shift in market leadership may be forming as Federal Reserve rate cuts begin to restore liquidity, according to two ETF industry executives who see early signs of rotation away from AI-heavy megacaps. CNBC conveyed the opinions.Astoria Portfolio Advisors founder John Davi said a series of Fed cuts typically marks “the beginning of a new cycle,” one where capital broadens out rather than clustering around the Magnificent Seven. He noted that emerging-market equities and industrials have already begun to outperform in recent months, signalling investors are diversifying beyond the narrow, AI-driven winners of the past two years.Davi cautioned against portfolios overly concentrated in US megacaps, arguing that global, multi-asset positioning offers better resilience as the cycle turns.LionShares CEO Sophia Massie echoed the rotation theme, saying markets may be overestimating the likelihood that a single firm will dominate artificial intelligence. She suggested investors could be under-rewarding opportunities in regions and sectors that stand to benefit from easier policy and a more balanced growth environment. This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.

ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence in NZ for November 2025. Up 6.5% m/m to 98.4, its highest level since June:in October the index fell 2.3% to 92.4ANZ express a concern:The proportion of households thinking it’s a good time to buy a major household item (the best retail indicator) rose 5 points but is still net negative at -9. This indicator hasn’t been positive in more than four years.-The survey also asks about inflation expectations: lifted slightly from 5.1% to 5.2%-The kiwi $ is little changed on the data. --Its been a run of good news from NZ this week, a rate cut from the RBNZ:investingLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: AUD up (high CPI), NZD up (rate cut), JPY up (BoJ)and the:New Zealand Q3 retail sales show huge jump, much improved from Q2New Zealand November business confidence 67.1% (up from 58.1% prior) This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.

For those not celebrating Thanksgiving, and for those who are but just can't stayaway from markets (can relate!), it's a heavy data day from Japan. The focus is on the CPI from Tokyo (more on this below). The Bank of Japan next meet on December 18 and 19. Developments in inflation data will be keenly eyed. The policy board is still tossing up a rate hike at that meeting, or not. Latest:BOJ's Noguchi: Further yen declines could impact underlying inflationBOJ's Noguchi: Japan making steady progress in meeting inflation targetRecap - BoJ’s Noguchi tempers December hike bets, urges measured, step-by-step tighteninginvestingLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: AUD up (high CPI), NZD up (rate cut), JPY up (BoJThe screenshot is from the investingLive economic data calendar.The times in the left-most column are GMT.The numbers in the right-most column are the 'prior' (previous month/quarter as the case may be) result. The number in the column next to that, where there is a number, is the consensus median expected. ---Tokyo area November inflation data is expected to remain fairly steady from October, just nudging down by a tenth of a precent mainly. .National-level CPI data for this month will follow in about three weeks, it takes longer to gather and collate the national data.Tokyo CPI is a sub-index of the national CPIIt measures the change in prices of goods and services in the Tokyo metropolitan areaIts considered a leading indicator of national CPI trends because Tokyo is the largest city in Japan and is a major economic hubHistorically, Tokyo CPI data has been just slightly higher than national Japan CPI data. The cost of living in Tokyo is a touch higher than in most other parts of Japan. Higher rents, for exampleI have posted the above info before, doing so again ICYMI. This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.

I expect slack to increaseIt's encouraging that services inflation is coming downEvidence on wage growth is also encouragingBoE projection is benignInflation has stabilisedMy concern is around second-round effectsBusiness inflation expectations are elevated and risingPreliminary results from BoE agents' survey point to pay settlements of around 3.5%, maybe due to upward shift in wage-settingPolicy must bear down if expectations are elevatedThere are some green shoots emerging in the labour marketVacancies have stabilised and consumption is weakThe most salient global risk comes from marketsWhen talking about the big weighting of AI on the stock market, she said that a correction could spill over (negatively affect the whole economy)Most policy rules suggest keeping rates steadyI worry that wage and price-setting have changed a bitBudget energy price measures appear to be a one-off, but may help inflation expectationsLatest news on inflation has been to the downsideI'm marginally less concerned about inflation since budget, but only marginallyThese are some "marginally" dovish comments from Greene who has been one of the most hawkish BoE members for quite some time. Her concern remains the second-round effects around inflation but it feels like she toned down a bit her "hawkishness".The BoE is widely expected to deliver a 25 bps rate cut in December with a total of 64 bps of easing seen by the end of 2026. This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.

The RBNZ’s 25-basis-point cut yesterday — paired with guidance that rates will likely remain steady for an extended period — gave buyers the green light. The NZDUSD responded with a strong 1.4% gain, the biggest mover on the day. Today, the pair tacked on another 0.30% at the highs, making it the top performer for a second straight session.For traders, this is where the technical roadmap becomes essential: the bias, the risk, and the targets.You start by defining the directional bias — and often the fundamental trigger behind it (but sometimes not), such as the RBNZ’s hawkish cut. Then you identify the risk to that view, understanding that risk levels are dynamic. As the market travels and breaks through targets, traders should re-mark their risk points if the trend still has room to run. Targets, meanwhile, act as destinations. As price approaches them, you decide whether to take profit, reduce risk, or even shift your broader bias. Technical tools are what help define all of these components.This applies not only to NZDUSD but to any deep market — EURUSD, Amazon, crude oil, bitcoin — wherever buyers and sellers are constantly repositioning around bias, risk, and target zones.In the video above, I walk through the NZDUSD roadmap. The pair turned more bullish on the RBNZ’s “hawkish cut,” extended into a key target area, corrected back to a support retracement, and then launched into a fresh upside leg today. That run higher reached a swing zone (i.e. target) between 0.57232 and 0.57312, where buyers stalled. A break above would give bulls more control.On the downside, risk is now centered near the 50% midpoint of the range since the late-October high at 0.5688, which also sits inside a swing area. If sellers are to take back control (turn the bias around), they need to push the price below that zone — and stay below it.The targets and risk levels are the levels/areas where traders who can be buyers or sellers tend to congregate and decide a winner. Today, the buyers pushed to the swing area, but were met in the swing area by the sellers. There is a battle but because the move this week has been strong, they have work to do in order to prove they can take back control. Meanwhile, the buyers have to weigh if the target is a strong enough level to lean against to take profit - or even think about reversing. Such is the story of trading which I look to express in my video's and posts. This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.

Likely to agree on mechanism to assess members' maximum production capacityThis was already expected, so not really new information. We got a brief and small spike which faded quickly. This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.

There are no final versions to the peace planWe agree that Trumpìs Ukraine plain can be used as a basis for future agreementsWe need to discuss some thingsRussia does not plan to attack Europe, this is ridiculousWe are ready to discuss European securityWe are also ready to discuss strategic stability with the USWe are ready for serious discussion, expect the US delegation next weekRussia and Ukrain special services maintain contactsOnce Ukraine troops leave, the battles will stopRussian troops are moving faster on all directions on battlefieldsThe enemy is not replenishing its forcesI was surprised by US sanctions against Russian oil companies Sanctions are destroying our relations with USWitkoff is coming to Moscow for talksCrimea and Donbas should be the topic of our talks with USThere's been some weakness in crude oil on the back of Putin's comments as expectations about the end of the war remain positive. This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.

Prior was -21.16 billion (revised to -21.56 billion)From the agency: "The decrease in the current account deficit in the third quarter was largely due to a narrowing of the trade in goods deficit, as exports increased in the quarter while imports decreased. The investment income and trade in services components also contributed to the overall narrowing of the current account deficit.In the financial account (unadjusted for seasonal variation), inflows of funds from abroad to finance the current account deficit came primarily from foreign investment in Canadian debt securities. While Canadian investors continued to increase their exposure to US securities, foreign investors rekindled their demand for Canadian securities in the third quarter." This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.

Headlines:Reminder: Thanksgiving holiday to sap the appetite from markets todayGold continues to keep within technical pennant for nowUSD/JPY Technical Analysis: Weakness in both currencies leads to choppy price actionECB meeting accounts note that present uncertainty justifies keeping rates unchangedECB's Kazaks: Time is not ripe to discuss a rate cutBOJ's Noguchi: Japan making steady progress in meeting inflation targetBOJ's Noguchi: Further yen declines could impact underlying inflationUK chancellor Reeves: Borrowing costs fell because I'm controlling debtEurozone November final consumer confidence -14.2 vs -14.2 prelimEurozone October M3 money supply +2.8% v +2.8% y/y expectedGermany December GfK consumer sentiment -23.2 vs -23.2 expectedItaly September industrial sales M/M +2.1% vs -0.7% priorItaly November business confidence 89.6 vs 88.5 expectedChina expresses stern concerns over certain contents in US-Malaysia trade dealMarkets:NZD leads, CHF lags on the dayEuropean equities a little higher; S&P 500 futures flatGold down 0.2% to $4,156.79WTI crude oil up 0.4% to $58.89Bitcoin up 1.0% to $91,127It was a quiet session with not all too much to work with as trading appetite is sapped amid the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.The holiday break is also leading to a lull in Europe, with traders and investors looking fairly disinterested during the session. That especially with no major data releases or headlines to deal with as well.In the major currencies space, the dollar is little changed across the board in a lackluster start to the day. EUR/USD is down just 0.1% to 1.1585 while USD/JPY is down 0.1% to 156.35 currently. The latter at least did nudge a little higher from around 155.90 levels at the start of the session. Meanwhile, GBP/USD is keeping the post-budget gains at around 1.3230 though down 0.1% on the day.In the equities space, European indices are posting minor gains as the risk mood holds up on the week. But with Wall Street out of commission today, there's not much conviction to go running.As for the commodities space, gold continues to hold stuck in its technical pennant and is down just slightly at $4,156 at the moment. In crypto land, at least risk appetite is picking up with Bitcoin now climbing back up to $91,000. That's a relief after the scare from last week surely.To all those celebrating, I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving holiday break and enjoy the long weekend! This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.

Assessment of inflation outlook was broadly unchangedThe view was expressed that the rate-cutting cycle had come to an endThat since the current favourable outlook was likely to be maintained unless risks materialisedTaking a steady hand approach could increase the chances of remaining in a good placeFrom a strategic standpoint, monetary policy stance should not be fine-tuned in response to moderate and temporary fluctuations of inflation around target but should only be adjusted if a significant deviation from target was expected over the medium-termMost members viewed the risks surrounding the inflation outlook as two-sidedThe outlook for inflation continued to be more uncertain than usualOverall, there continued to be a high option value to waiting for more informationMonetary policy is in a good place, though this should not be seen as a fixed placeFull accountsThere's nothing new there that we don't already know. That as the ECB continues to want optionality and flexibility over anything else. And as things stand, the data doesn't compel them to rush any further rate cuts. The point on it being the end of the rate-cutting cycle is interesting though. I would argue that the situation remains fluid, so I wouldn't ascribe that point to being a stance that they would stubbornly stick to. This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.

Fundamental OverviewThe USD weakened across the board recently following soft ADP data and a Bloomberg report saying that Hassett emerged as the frontrunner for the Fed Chair position. The greenback was already under some pressure caused by Fed’s Williams endorsement for a December cut last Friday. The probability for a December cut is now at 76%, which generally makes it a done deal. We won’t get much data before the FOMC meeting, so the focus will likely be mainly on jobless claims and ADP data, which haven’t been showing any strong improvement. Weak data should keep weighing on the greenback, while strong data could provide some short-term support. At the end of the day though, it’s all about the FOMC decision now and the following NFP and CPI reports. On the NZD side, the RBNZ cut the OCR to 2.25% as expected and signalled the end of the easing cycle. The central bank indicated that the OCR would remain at the current level through 2026. This gave the New Zealand dollar a boost as the market priced out the expected easing in 2026.NZDUSD Technical Analysis – Daily TimeframeOn the daily chart, we can see that the NZDUSD rebounded strongly from the lows following renewed dovish Fed bets and the RBNZ decision. We can see that we have a downward trendline that could act as resistance. The sellers will likely lean on the trendline with a defined risk above it to position for a drop into the April lows. The buyers, on the other hand, will look for a break higher to increase the bullish bets into the 0.5850 resistance next. NZDUSD Technical Analysis – 4 hour TimeframeOn the 4 hour chart, we can see that we have a strong support zone around the 0.5690 level. If we get a pullback, we can expect the buyers to step in there with a defined risk below the support to position for a break above the trendline. The sellers, on the other hand, will look for a break lower to increase the bearish bets into new lows.NZDUSD Technical Analysis – 1 hour TimeframeOn the 1 hour chart, there’s not much we can add here as the buyers will look for a bounce around the support, while the sellers will look for a break. The red lines define the average daily range for today. This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.

I would focus on 2026, 2027 inflation projectionsDownside risks to inflation are better known but we shouldn't discount upsideDelay to ETS2 emissions trading system would flatten inflation but we should also look at coreSame old from Kazaks as he keeps his neutral stance. The ECB members have repeated many times that they won't respond to small or short-term deviations from their 2% target, so we are all in a wait-and-see mode. This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.

Some backdrop on the matter:Trump's visit to Malaysia looks to be a twofold oneMalaysia clarifies that it still maintains ban on raw rare earths export despite US dealWith Malaysia housing the largest rare earth processing facility outside of China, it's a big deal in terms of who is able to get the supplies of these processed rare earth compounds. And Trump's recent visit was to ensure that the US stands to benefit from that, no doubt as China continues to use this as an ace in the hole in terms of negotiating prowess.It would be weird for Beijing to want to scrutinise and express their dissatisfaction about anything else as what threat does Malaysia really stand to against China. To put things into context, the latter economy is over 40 times the former. As such, it is pretty much irrelevant to the conversation. The only thing I can think of and would argue that China would want to meddle with is this one above. This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.

Economic confidence 97.0 vs 97.0 expectedPrior 96.8Industrial confidence -9.3 vs -8.0 expectedPrior -8.2Services confidence 5.7 vs 4.4 expectedPrior 4.0Slight delay in the release by the source. Economic sentiment nudged up slightly on the month amid a mixed backdrop, with services sentiment seen improving while industrial sentiment slumped a fair bit more in November. In any case, the readings here won't do much to sway the current ECB outlook. This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.

Industrial sales Y/Y +3.4% vs -0.1% priorFull report hereThis is a very volatile indicator and not a market-moving release.From the agency:In September 2025, estimates for the seasonally adjusted turnover industrial index increased by 2.1% in value (+3.0% in volume) when compared to the previous month (+1.5% in value and +2.7% in volume in the domestic market and +3.1% in value and +3.4% in volume in the non-domestic one). For services, the seasonally adjusted turnover index increased in the month-on-month series by 1.8% in value and by 1.6% in volume. This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.

The precious metal may be up a little over 2% on the week thus far but the technical picture remains the same. The move higher yesterday saw gold touch a high of $4,173 before falling back slightly now to $4,157 on the day. On the daily chart, it is still clear that price action is keeping within the flag/wedge pattern that we're seeing since the middle of November.And as mentioned earlier in the week:"There is a flag/wedge/pennant building for gold this month and price action continues to hold within the confines of that as seen above. As such, that technical pattern is now going to act as a key momentum factor in determining the next big move for gold.A breakout from the chokehold and above $4,200 will open the floodgates for gold to target the highs for the year again. The momentum will have added credence considering the strong seasonal months in December and January for the precious metal typically.Meanwhile, a downside break will quickly see the $4,000 mark get called into question before revisiting the late October lows near $3,900. That will be a crucial support level to watch as a break there opens up the path back towards a potential test of the 100-day moving average (red line) just above $3,700 currently.So while the fundamental drivers are still very much a consideration for gold price action, the technical posturing above suggests that the charts will be the ones in deciding the directional pace of the game for the next move."There is no change to that sentiment as of today as well. This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.

Prior 88.3Consumer confidence 95.0 vs 97.6 expectedPrior 97.6Full report hereThis is not a market-moving release.From the agency: In November 2025, the consumer confidence index decreased from 97.6 to 95.0. New negative hints affected all its components: the future climate sunk from 94.1 to 90.2, the personal one worsened from 97.0 to 94.5, the economic one from 99.3 to 96.5, and, finally, the current one from 100.2 to 98.6. The manufacturing confidence climate improved from 88.4 to 89.6. Compared to the previous survey, assessments on order books recovered, expectations on production bettered and the level of inventories was judged to be decreasing (the related balances changed from -19.2 to -17.7, from 2.2 to 3.5 and from 2.3 to 1.4, respectively). This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.

Prior +2.8%Broad money growth in the euro area remains unchanged in October, with the narrower M1 showing annual growth of 5.2% - up from 5.0% in September. Further details show that the annual growth rate of adjusted loans to households increased to 2.8% in October from 2.6% in September. Meanwhile, the annual growth rate of adjusted loans to non-financial corporations stood at 2.9% in October, unchanged from previous month. This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.

Eurostoxx +0.2%Germany DAX +0.5%France CAC 40 +0.1%UK FTSE flatSpain IBEX +0.2%Italy FTSE MIB +0.3%Turkey day closure for Wall Street? No problem. The risk rebound this week continues to gather pace for the most part. We don't have much to work with this session or for the day even, but investors seem content to keep a more steady mood with month-end also a consideration in the next two days. This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.