Euro gains slowly some momentum

Good Morning,

- Euro gains slowly some momentum, as nothing new comes in markets from Janet Yellen’s comments.

- The markets ripped higher again taking comfort that the new Chair of the Fed Janet Yellen is going to keep going with quantitative easing. Markets were focused on comments she made that the Fed’s unconventional monetary policy, QE, would continue for as long as was necessary.

- Asian shares: Japan's Nikkei 1.95%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.69%, Korea's Kospi 1.94 %, Australia's ASX 200 0.83% and China's Shanghai 1.68%.

- ECB’s Asmussen: It is absolutely necessary to have credible backstops for banks.

- Germany challenged a central plank of plans to forge a banking union in the euro zone on Thursday, arguing against the use of the currency bloc's funds to help lenders exposed as dangerously weak by health checks next year. As finance ministers gathered in Brussels to outline plans to deal with banks still in difficulty, Germany's finance minister hardened his stance on the use of the bloc's emergency fund.

- French FM Pierre Moscovici said: "France continues to believe that we ... must not exclude direct recapitalization by the European Stability Mechanism as a last resort." Speaking just yards away, however, Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany's finance minister, poured cold water on the idea. "The German legal position rules it out now," said Schaeuble. "That's well known. I don't know if everyone has registered that."

- EU Ministers had been drafting a joint statement to outline their plan of action after bank health tests next year to draw a line under the region's financial crisis. But sharp divisions emerged between France, which wants a euro zone safety net, and Germany, which is worried that it will shoulder much of the burden if weak countries turn to the bloc's emergency fund.

- Janet L. Yellen, President Obama’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve for the next four years, sailed through a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday as Republicans and Democrats mostly used the opportunity to raise broader concerns about income inequality and the regulation of large banks. Ms. Yellen will need at least five Republican votes to reach the 60-vote threshold that the minority party routinely imposes on presidential nominees.

- Ireland to exit Europe's emergency room. Three years after turning to the EU and International Monetary Fund for €85 billion in aid, Ireland is poised to become the first bailed-out eurozone country to make a full return to financial markets. Ireland was brought to the brink of collapse in 2010 by a real estate crash that forced the government to backstop the country's banks, sending its budget deficit soaring and the cost of new borrowing to punitive levels. The Irish government said Thursday that it would exit the program as planned on December 15.

- IMF Lagarde: "Although uncertainties remain in Europe and the global economy more broadly, Ireland is in a strong position in terms of its bond yields and has built a sizable cash buffer"

- EU finance chief Olli Rehn: "Graduation from the program will send a very clear signal to markets and international lenders that the adjustment effort undertaken in Ireland, with the support of its European and international partners, has paid off,"

- China fixed the Yuan at a record high amid U.S. calls for faster appreciation and investors are tipping renminbi bonds to be one of the best bets in emerging markets as the Federal Reserve prepares to rein in stimulus. The central bank raised the Yuan’s reference rate to 6.1315 per dollar yesterday and the currency has gained 2.3 percent this year, the best showing among 24 developing-nation currencies

- Watch today: Eurozone CPI, US output, Ecofin summit.

Have a nice Weekend !