The trade negotiations between China and the United States seem promising. Even though no details have been unveiled so far, President Trump appears to have trust in his Chinese counterpart and has taken a step back from his previous threats to hit China with tariffs as soon as the 90-day deadline of their current agreement expires. Now Trump stated that he would be willing to extend it by another 60 days if the talks continue to go well in order to finalize the agreements reached. Needless to say, all positive news about the trade talks between the United States and China has had stabilizing effects on the financial markets.
In other news, retail sales released in the United States today registered a surprising decrease in December. This is the most significant drop since 2009, when the economy was still struggling with the fallout of the global financial crisis. It was even more surprising since December numbers are usually higher due to the holiday shopping spree. In general this news had a negative impact, but the markets right now are choosing to hold onto the optimism stemming from the talks with China.
