Four people are dead and many more injured after a minibus drive into a market in the northern region of Beijing. While China's traffic safety record is not exactly stellar, with many on edge following the Berlin attack, this event is noteworthy as China has faced a threat from Islamist militants operating in its far western region of Xinjiang who have been blamed for a series of attacks in recent years.
The danger signs are building up for the Chinese bond market.
First, last Thursday, Chinese bond futures crashed by the most on record forcing China's regulator to briefly halt trading in the security until the panic fades.
Then, on Friday, a Chinese bill auction technically "failed" when it was unable to find enough buyers for the total amount offered for sale.
China has blinked.
On Tuesday, Beijing has returned a U.S. underwater drone taken by one of its naval vessels in the disputed South China Sea last week after what it said were friendly talks with the United States, which reiterated its criticism of the "unlawful" seizure. The move could diffuse tensions after protests from the White House and critical tweets from President-elect Donald Trump.
While negotiations are ongoing regarding China's return of the undersea US drone that was confiscated by China last week, China has pushed back against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s claim that its military stole an American naval drone last week, even as the Philippines called the seizure off its coast, and which took place outside of the contested nine-dash line, “very troubling.”
Global markets begin the last full week of trading of the year in subdued fashion, with U.S. equity futures rising 0.1%, to 2,258.5, European shares decline halting two straight weeks of gains, and Asian shares hitting a four-week low. The Dollar extends losses, yen and gold rise amid geopolitical concerns as the fallout from China's seizure of a U.S. continues to reverberate. Volumes are thinning before the December holiday season and end of the year, with trading in German bund futures about half the average for the past five days.