European and Asian stocks were modestly in the green, with U.S. futures higher, before a critical procedural vote on a Republican health-care bill to repeal Obamacare, while Janet Yellen is set to speak in Washington at 8:45am.
Global markets start the week mixed with Asian stocks rising (Japan was closed for holiday), European stocks sliding, weighed down by declines in oil-and-gas shares and banks, and S&P500 futures also down. The dollar fell to a six-week low, falling four days in a row for the first time since early November as G20 leaders scrap a long-standing commitment to reject all forms of trade protectionism, suggesting the "weak Dollar" camp in Trump's inner circle is winning.
Six months ago, it was virtually assured that as part of his daily out at the West, Philippines' president Duterte would accuse then-president Obama of being a "son of a bitch (or whore)." Now, a similar dynamic is playing out between Turkish president Erdogan and Angela Merkel, and/or the German (and Dutch) people, whom he now accuses on an almost daily basis of being Nazis, as a result of the escalating diplomatic spat between Turkey and Europe.
Germany will impose fines of up to 50 million euros if Facebook don’t remove alternative news content from their platform. A new law being drafted will see social media firms face hefty fines if they take longer than seven days to remove content that German authorities deem to be “illegal” – including so-called fake news. Germany’s justice minister, Heiko Mass, says that social media giants such as Facebook have not done enough to tackle content that the government deems ‘subversive’.
Arriving in Washington for her first face-to-face meeting with President Trump, after months of preparation and one postponement due to snow, Obama's old friend German Chancellor Angela Merkel will likely discuss trade and immigration, though officials said there were few concrete goals.
Last month she met Vice President Mike Pence in Munich, where he was delivering the first major foreign policy address of the Trump administration, and laid the groundwork for Friday's meeting.