Good Morning ,

- The risk is still on after China's PMI rose to a 14-month high and EURUSD climbs above 1.3100, just a step below the 3-month resistance at 1.3140 .

- Asian equity markets are mixed , Japans Nikkei225 -0.5% , Australia’s ASX +0.05 %, Koreas Kospi -0.39% , Chinas Shanghai Composite +4.32 % , and Hong kong Hang Seng +0.65 % .

- Fitch Ratings has affirmed France's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) as well as its senior debt at 'AAA'. Fitch has also simultaneously affirmed France's Country Ceiling at 'AAA' and the Short-term foreign currency rating at 'F1+'. The rating Outlook on the Long-term rating is Negative.

- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook on the unsolicited long-term ratings on the United Kingdom to negative from stable. At the same time, affirmed 'AAA/A-1+' long- and short-term unsolicited sovereign credit ratings.

- Eurozone Finally Releases Rescue Funds for Greece . Finance ministers of the 17-nation eurozone agreed on Thursday to release a first 34 billion euros of aid to Greece, part of a rescue package held up for months due to worries over economic reform delays. “The meeting is over. The release of the financial aid has been accepted,” said a spokesman for Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker said. The IMF and the eurozone had agreed to release 43.7 billion euros in rescue loans in four installments to enable Greece to avoid bankruptcy .

- With the pressure off after finance ministers clinched a significant agreement on a single banking supervisor, European Union leaders differed widely at a summit on Thursday over the next steps for their troubled currency union. The 27 leaders argued along well-worn lines over banking resolution, deficit reduction and a common euro zone budget, making little headway.

- ECB Draghi: Confident U.S. To Reach Agreement on Fiscal Cliff . Draghi told the Financial Times that the American economy was in a position to achieve good results. "I'm confident they will find an agreement" regarding the fiscal cliff, the ECB chief said, though he observed that it had supplanted the Eurozone crisis in the view of many as the "major source of uncertainty and risk in the world."

- The Swiss National Bank stressed its determination on Thursday to keep a lid on the franc at 1.20 per euro, saying the fragility of the global economy would support demand for the safe-haven currency, making new interventions possible.

- China's manufacturing sector continued to improve in December, according to a key early indicator. HSBC said its initial Chinese purchasing managers' index, or PMI, rose to a 14-month high of 50.9 in December from 50.5 last month

- Japan Tankan business confidence falls to near 3-year low and Usd/Jpy trade at a new 9- months high (83.95) . The quarterly Tankan index for large manufacturers fell to minus 12 in December from minus 3 in September .

- Japan’s industrial output rose in November but less than expected, indicating that the world’s third largest-economy continues to weaken. According to the data , Japan’s industrial production, which measures the total inflation-adjusted value of output from manufacturers, mines, and utilities, rose 1.6 percent in November, down from 1.8 percent in October and below the analysts’ expectation of 1.8 percent.

Have a nice weekend !