United States

The December import price index report from the BLS showed a modest deterioration at the headline level: declining by 1.20% this was fractionally better than the expected decline of -1.40% however a notable drop from last month's -0.50%. While most of the December decrease was attributable to falling fuel  prices, nonfuel prices continued to trend down as well, with Import prices ex-fuels dropping 0.3% (after falling 0.2% in Nov), suggesting the rest of the world continues to export substantial deflation to the US.

Al Jazeera cable news outlet is to shut down its operations in the US. After less than three years in operation, Al Jazeera America will terminate its news and digital operations in April The Qatari owned Al Jazeera had to overcome established media bias and defend anti-Semitic and anti-Western accusations from day one of its operations in the US. The cable and satellite news television channel eventually ran into operational problems and had to succumb to a lack of ratings and advertisers.

• Islamic State launches militant assault on Indonesia's capital (Reuters)
• Three winners emerge in $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot (Reuters)
• European Stocks Tumble, Credit Markets Weaken on Growth Concern (BBG)
• Stocks and commodity currencies floored by new oil plunge (Reuters)
• China Bear Market Looms as PBOC Fails to Stop Flight to Safety (BBG)
• Anxious phone calls, tense moments before Iran's Supreme Leader okayed U.S. sailors' release (Reuters)
• The Quiet Side of China’s Market Intervention (WSJ)

It has been another choppy, illiquid, volatile overnight session, which started with weakness out of China, whose Shanghai Composite dropped 20% into another bear market in early trading, then further slammed by news of a terrorist attack in Jakarta, only to rebound back over 3000 as the Chinese National Team decided to intrevene again, this time in the ChiNext small cap index, pushing it higher by 5.6%.

Since July the Israel Lobby and other opponents of the understanding reached by the White House and other parties to limit the Iranian nuclear program have been warning that any celebration would be premature, as the agreement is far from a done deal. President Obama survived initial attempts to create legislative hurdles hindering implementation of the pact, but there are clear signals that the battle is far from over.