United Kingdom

US equity futures are unchanged, trading near record highs after digesting a spate of earnings results on Thursday. The dollar pared its weekly loss as the yen and pound slid, while gold headed for its longest slump in three months. European equities fell and markets in Asia were mixed, while markets in China, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam were closed Friday for the start of Lunar New Year. Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore had shortened sessions.

Ahead of her meeting with Trump tomorrow, British Prime Minister Theresa May joked that "opposites attract" and called on the US President to renew the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States and lead in a new, changed world. In the United States for what will be Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader since he took office last week, May signaled a shift in foreign policy, bringing her position more in line with that of Trump.

The number of people sleeping rough on the streets of England has risen for the sixth year in a row. The latest official figures have revealed that an estimated 4,134 people were forced to sleep outside in 2016, up 16% on the previous year and more than double since 2010. It is believed that the real numbers are far higher than those recorded by local authorities. A database collected by St. Mungo’s Combined Homelessness and Information Network reports more than 8,000 homeless people on the streets of London over the year of 2015-16 alone.

With Theresa May - preparing to enact Article 50 officially starting the Brexit process from the EU - set to meet Trump tomorrow as the new US president's first meeting with an international leader to lay the groundwork for a U.S.-U.K. trade deal, the outcome will provide the first test for how world leaders can deal with Donald Trump, who has put the world on edge with his recent push for isolationism and trade protectionism, culminating most recently with his tweet that Mexico's president needn't bother visiting if Mexico will not pay for the wall along the Mexican-US border.