United Kingdom

Saudi Arabia will join the UK in military exercises in preparation to fight ISIS in Syria, two sources have revealed to CNN. Saudi will deploy up to 150,000 troops in March to run a multinational military training exercise to prepare for future anti-ISIS operations. CNN reports: He stressed previously Saudis that air strikes alone will not defeat “Daash”, but they returned to reconsider their strategy, which is likely to present them in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

An embarrassing new report has highlighted the poor security of Britain’s nuclear weapons. The study, commissioned by the European Leadership Network (NLP), highlights the fact that UK nukes could be hacked by cyber terrorists, allowing them to launch a missile from a submarine.  The study worryingly concludes that Britain’s nuclear weapons can never be fully protected against a cyber attack.

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has dismissed a UN panel’s ruling that Julian Assange should be allowed to go free, saying that their ruling is “ridiculous”.  The UN panel said that Assange had been “arbitrarily detained” and should receive compensation from the British government. BBC News reports: Philip Hammond rejected the decision, accusing Mr Assange of evading justice. Mr Assange hailed it as a “significant victory”, but the UK government insisted the ruling was not legally binding and the report “changes nothing”.

• EU Slashes 2016 Inflation Forecast to 0.5% as Growth Seen Slower (BBG)
• Bank of England cuts UK growth forecasts (FT)
• Investors Cast Wary Eye on Fed Rate Increases (WSJ)
• U.N. halts Syria talks as government closes in on Aleppo (Reuters)
• Credit Suisse Drops as Investment Bank Slump Deepens Losses (BBG)
• Six OPEC states ready for emergency meeting with non-OPEC members — Venezuela's minister (TASS)
• Redstone seen resigning as Viacom chair after stepping down at CBS (Reuters)

After yesterday's torrid, chaotic moves in the market, where an initial drop in stocks was quickly pared and led to a surge into the close after a weaker dollar on the heels of even more disappointing US data and Bill Dudley's "serious consequences" speech sent oil soaring and put the "Fed Relent" scenario squarely back on the table, overnight we have seen more global equity strength on the back of a weaker dollar, even if said weakness hurt Kuroda's post-NIRP world and the Nikkei erased virtually all losses since last Friday's surprising negative rate announcement.