Markets: Asian equities and currencies were mostly on hold as markets looked to Friday's looming release of US jobs data. Economists expect the US unemployment rate to have fallen from 7.3 per cent in October to 7.2 per cent for November. Non-farm payrolls data are forecast to show the world's biggest economy added 185,000 jobs in November. (Financial Times)
Nelson Mandela dies: The inspirational former South African president who guided his nation through the dramatic transition that marked the end of apartheid, died on Thursday. He had spent nearly three months in hospital following his admission in June. (Financial Times)
The US "Volcker rule", which bans banks from proprietary trading, will leave a grey area for regulators to police as they see fit, according to a senior Treasury official. He said the rule itself would be quite short, leaving room for regulators' discretion. (Financial Times) It will also "require CEOs guarantee compliance... The inclusion of so-called CEO attestation is intended to help increase accountability at firms by ensuring that top executives know what types of trades are occurring at their firms, these people said." (WSJ)
Gazprom, the Russian energy group, has denied that Russia would cut the price it charges Ukraine for its gas if Kiev joined a Moscow-led economic bloc, dismissing such an idea as "naive and primitive". Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine's president, was expected on Friday to stop in Moscow on his way home from a visit to China, though officials declined to confirm the trip would definitely still happen. (Financial Times)
WTO deal stalls as India folds firm going in to final day: People close to the negotiations said discussions overnight between director-general of the WTO Azevêdo, India's Anand Sharma, US Trade Representative Michael Froman and others had failed to yield a compromise. At issue are the terms of a "peace clause" designed to give negotiators more time to draft an agreement on the WTO rules that apply to government programmes to offer subsidised food to the poor. (Financial Times)
Shell ditches plans for US gas-to-liquids plant amid concerns over the costs of the $20bn-plus project. Shell had touted the possible GTL plant in the Gulf of Mexico region as a way to exploit the arbitrage opportunities that have opened between cheap and abundant US shale gas and expensive crude oil. However, with shale oil production also now booming in North America, putting downward pressure on US crude prices, that argument looks less compelling. (Financial Times)
"Total SA, Europe's third-biggest oil company, agreed to buy a stake in InterOil Corp's assets in Papua New Guinea in a deal valued at as much as $3.6 billion as part of a plan to build a liquefied natural gas project." (Bloomberg)
The SEC "is looking into J.C. Penney's controversial offering of about $800 million in stock this fall. In a securities filing Thursday, Penney said it received a letter of inquiry from the SEC seeking information about the offering, as well as details of the company's liquidity, cash position and debt and equity financing. Penney said it is cooperating with regulators." (WSJ)
Palantir Technologies, a big data company which works for the US intelligence services, has been valued at about $9bn, after keen investor interest in the software maker that was first funded by the CIA's( not for profit venture cap firm) In-Q-Tel. It is set to announce a $58m fundraising from anonymous backers, which the person said would probably increase to $100m. (Financial Times)
RBC chief Gordon Nixon to retire next year: Dave McKay, 50, who has spent 25 year at the bank in departments spanning retail banking, risk management and corporate banking, will succeed Mr Nixon in August. (Financial Times)
Lampert, Sears CEO's hedge fund is returning billions to Goldman clients "who had invested with ESL Investments Inc. in 2007, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Under that deal, Goldman's clients, such as corporate pension plans, put roughly $3.5 billion with Mr. Lampert, and they have asked for it back." (WSJ)
"Citigroup and Wells Fargo were accused of discriminatory mortgage lending by the city of Los Angeles, which seeks damages for reduced property tax revenue and the costs of maintaining foreclosed properties. [They] have been engaged in discriminatory lending to minority borrowers since at least 2004, which placed the borrowers in loans they couldn't afford and caused a high number of foreclosures in minority neighborhoods, Los Angeles said." (Bloomberg)
"General Motors has decided to pull out of vehicle production in Australia as early as 2016, local media reported on Friday, in what would be a major blow to the struggling industry. Citing unnamed senior government sources, the Australian Broadcasting Corp said an announcement on the decision to close was supposed to have been made this week but had been put off until early next year. A GM spokesman in Detroit declined to comment on the reports." (Reuters)
COMMENTS & CURIOS
Nelson Mandela: the meaning of the Madiba magic (Financial Times)
Autumn Statement 2013: Britain's needlessly slow recovery (Financial Times Wolf)
The goal is to place the burden centre stage and show that only the Tories can handle it (Financial Times)
Britain, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, apparently has nothing to say on East China Sea tensions (Financial Times)
Some experts believe a U.S. oil glut is coming (WSJ)
The sake and sushi approach to Abenomics and wages (Financial Times)
Kuroda's payslip is 38 percent less than his predecessor's 15 years ago (Financial Times)
Maor Caligula, this time it's sales tax (Bloomberg)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +62.02 (+0.41%) at 15,240
Topix up +2.15 (+0.17%) at 1,232
Hang Seng down -36.89 (-0.16%) at 23,676
US markets
S&P 500 down -7.78 (-0.43%) at 1,785
DJIA down -68.26 (-0.43%) at 15,822
Nasdaq down -4.84 (-0.12%) at 4,033
European markets
Eurofirst 300 down -12.29 (-0.96%) at 1,261
FTSE100 down -11.64 (-0.18%) at 6,498
CAC 40 down -48.61 (-1.17%) at 4,100
Dax down -55.68 (-0.61%) at 9,085
Currencies
€/$ 1.37 (1.37)
$/¥ 102.04 (101.78)
£/$ 1.63 (1.63)
€/£ 0.8365 (0.8366)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.30 at 111.28
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.04 at 97.34
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -4.50 at 1,229
Copper (Comex) at 3.26
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.87%
UK 2.92%
Germany 1.86%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe +0.67bps at 64.27bp
Markit iTraxx Europe +1.07bps at 83.07bp
Markit iTraxx Xover +2.1bps at 331.02bp
Markit CDX IG +1.51bps at 72.26bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
