XRP News Today: ETF Momentum And Fed Signals Lift Outlook

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron walk during an official welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing as part of a three-day visit to China, Dec. 4. Reuters-Yonhap

French President Emmanuel Macron met Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, where he is expected to push the Chinese leader to help secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, and discuss trade relations.

Macron and his wife Brigitte were given a grand welcome by Xi and his partner Peng Liyuan to the Great Hall of the People, where the ceremony was moved indoors due to cold weather.

Macron blew kisses to children who held flowers and welcomed the president, while a band played the national anthems of both countries.

The French president, who is visiting China for the fourth time since taking office in 2017, is also expected to meet with Premier Li Qiang before travelling to Chengdu, where two giant pandas loaned to France were recently returned.

Macron has sought to pressure Xi to help secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, as the war with Russia drags into a fourth winter.

"We are counting on China, like us a permanent member of the Security Council... to lean on Russia, so that Russia and, in particular, Vladimir Putin can finally agree to a ceasefire," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said this week.

China regularly calls for peace talks and respect for the territorial integrity of all countries, but has never condemned Russia for its 2022 invasion.

Western governments accuse Beijing of providing Russia with crucial economic support for its war effort, notably by supplying it with military components for its defence industry.

The French presidency said Macron will tell Xi that China must "refrain from providing any means, by any means, to Russia to continue the war".

His three-day visit to Beijing follows a trip to Paris by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who urged Europe to stand by Kyiv as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes a plan to end the war.

"We share the view that the war must be brought to a fair end," Zelensky wrote on social media after Monday's talks with Macron, which also included phone calls with other European leaders.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan, left, welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron's wife Brigitte Macron during an official welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing as part of a three-day visit to China, Dec. 4. Reuters-Yonhap

Trade talks

Macron is also due to discuss trade with his Chinese hosts, with the European Union facing a massive trade deficit of $357 billion with the Asian powerhouse.

"It is necessary for China to consume more and export less... and for Europeans to save less and produce more," an adviser to Macron said.

Macron has previously called for the European Union to reduce its dependence on China and for a "European preference" in the tech sector.

Last month, he told a European summit of tech leaders and ministers from across the continent that the bloc does not want to be a "vassal" to U.S. and Chinese tech companies.

The French president will stay in China until Friday, with a final stop in Chengdu in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Last week, two giant pandas loaned to France by China were flown to their ancestral home to retire at an animal sanctuary in the city.

The Chinese embassy promised new bears would soon be dispatched to make up for the popular pair leaving.

The Chengdu visit is "quite exceptional in Chinese protocol", the French presidency said, adding it was "appreciated as such" by Macron.

During his last trip to China, the French president was given a rock star welcome at a university in the southern city of Guangzhou, with students chanting his name and scrambling for selfies and high-fives.

Source: Koreatimes

Indian shares look set for another soft start this morning, even as most Asian markets track Wall Street's gains on hopes the Fed might cut rates next week. Back home, the big focus is on tomorrow's RBI policy decision — and on what the Governor has to say about the rupee after it slipped past the key 90-per-dollar level on Wednesday.

Tata Consultancy Services will also be in the spotlight after reports that OpenAI is in advanced talks with the company to help build out AI infrastructure, a headline that could stir up some excitement in tech stocks. IndiGo stock is likely to be in the spotlight, following news of flight cancellations as the carrier grapples with a pilot shortage and tech issues. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin begins his state visit to India today, keeping geopolitics on investors' radar.

Finding rupee's floor

Tariff uncertainty continues to add pressure to the rupee, but analysts say further downside may be limited. According to Yes Securities, the currency now looks undervalued on a REER basis, which could reassure overseas investors sensitive to currency swings. The brokerage adds that overseas inflows into local shares often pick up when the rupee's depreciation exceeds the long-term average — and this year's 5.1% drop versus the dollar is already steeper than the 25-year annual average of 3%. Meanwhile, billionaire Uday Kotak said on X that with foreigners selling local shares and domestic investors buying, only time will tell which side is right.

Foreigners ownership hopes fade for state lenders

It's not just the rupee — bank ownership rules are in focus again. State-owned lenders have been standout performers this year on strong loan demand and better asset quality. Their latest rally followed reports of a possible rethink on ownership limits, but the government denied any such plan on Tuesday, sending the Nifty PSU Bank index down 3% and pushing some lenders among Asia's worst performers. Even so, sentiment remains firm, as shown by strong demand for the government's share sale in Bank of Maharashtra.

Auto rebound has wheels: InCred

The auto sector is also back in the spotlight as investors look for signs of a demand recovery. November sales eased after the festive surge, pulling the Nifty auto index down more than 1% on Wednesday — its sharpest drop in nearly two months.

Still, InCred Equities says the medium-term outlook is improving, helped by policy support such as income-tax cuts, lower interest rates and pay commission salary revisions, all of which could fuel a two-to-three-year demand upcycle. Forward price-to-earnings valuations are only slightly above their 10-year average, and InCred's preferred picks are Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto.

The rupee hit 90 per dollar for the first time on Wednesday, and its slide from 80 to 90 happened at a quicker annualized pace than the previous milestone moves, according to DSP Mutual Fund.

When the currency first reached 80 in July 2022, and 70 in August 2018, the annualized depreciation rates were 3.5% and 3%, respectively, according to the asset manager. This year's 5% drop has made the rupee Asia's weakest performer, and Nomura says the 2025 decline reflects the RBI's effort to slow the drawdown of its reserves.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

Weak Jobs Data Fuels Market Euphoria

Short-Term Sugar Rush, Long-Term Headwinds

Other Key Developments: Trade, Tech, and Talent

Cash in Focus Amid Uncertainty

Source: CNBC

Wall Street Momentum Meets Regional Divergence in Asia

Japan Leads Gains on Corporate Activity and Rate Speculation

South Korea and Hong Kong Struggle Amid Tech Weakness

Australia and India Exhibit Cautious Stability

Regional Markets React Selectively to Global Cues

Source: CNBC

A Decisive Signal to Temper Yuan Strength

Currency Stability Remains a Policy Priority

Strongest Annual Yuan Performance Since 2020

Looking Ahead: Managed Appreciation, Not Reversal

Source: Bloomberg

Peak-tariff pain in U.S. services may be easing, but Jefferies is not ready to call time on services inflation because the underlying wage and labor backdrop still points to sticky price pressures rather than a clean disinflation story.

The November ISM Services PMI rose to 52.6 from 52.4, hitting the highest reading since February, but the prices paid component of the index, an inflationary gauge, stole the show after falling to 65.4 from 70.0.

The fall in prices paid, points to "evidence that tariff pressure has probably peaked, though overall inflation pressure in the service sector remains significant," Jefferies economists Thomas Simons and Michael Bacolas said in a recent in note.

The call on 'peak tariffs' in services comes at time when there Are plenty of reasons to be optimistic by growth in the sector picking up pace.

"Tariffs are causing headaches in many industries, and pressuring prices for both goods and services, but the data suggest that this pressure has probably peaked," the economists said, pointing to lower uncertainty in early 2026, fiscal tailwinds, the government shutdown "in the rearview," and modestly lower interest rates as reasons to be "optimistic about a return to a solid trajectory of growth."

Still, the service sector is not out of the inflation woods as tariffs pressure were not only catalyst stoking inflation headwinds.

The threat of faster wage growth pushing inflation higher had been upstaged by tariff pressure, but now with the latter likely in the rearview, the tight labor market is likely to dominate attention.

Once the tariff impulse fades, "price pressure in services will fall back to wage pressure and the availability of labor," Jefferies said, pointing to weaker supply of labor as a concern.

While the rising unemployment rate suggests that the earlier labor scarcity that "was broadly pushing up prices for services" is easing, underlying wage and labor-supply dynamics mean services inflation will not drop quickly.

"Limited immigration flows and long-term demographic trends suggest that labor force growth is going to remain subdued in the months and years ahead," Jefferies said.

Source: Investing