Donald Trump wants a wall between Mexico and the US and will not back down. In his speech, he stressed the "growing humanitarian and security crisis on the southern border" and called for $5.7 billion to keep his election campaign promise. No compromises were considered. In the meantime, some federal governments remain closed and various economic indicators (such as the trade balance, industrial orders, etc.) cannot be published. In addition, the rating agency Fitch has threatened to downgrade the US sovereign rating (currently triple A) "If the shutdown continues until March 1 and the debt ceiling becomes a problem".

End of the period of Sino-American trade talks. Discussions between U.S. and Chinese officials lasted longer than expected, until Wednesday. The Chinese Foreign Minister today said that the negotiations have been completed and that a report will be released shortly. Yesterday, Donald Trump shared on Twitter his optimism about the conclusion of an agreement between the two powers, saying that the discussions were going "very well". 

Economists expect a change in the ECB's tone. In view of the difficulties encountered by several euro area economies (decline in industrial production in Germany, disappointing growth forecasts in Italy or even a slowdown in France), some analysts expect the European Central Bank to remain inactive for longer than expected, whereas it was expecting rates to rise again in summer 2019. To be continued at its next meeting on January. 24... 

In other news. The Chinese Finance Minister announced a budget deficit of 2.8% of GDP in 2019, higher than last year's (2.6%). Goldman Sachs has lowered its bond yield forecasts for 2019 for the United States, Canada and the euro zone. Pressure continues to build up before the British Parliament votes on the Brexit agreement negotiated with Brussels on January 15.