WC23

Anyone else still riding that World Cup high? What a storyline. What a final. What an ending. If you said before the game that Mbappe would score a hat-trick and France would end up on the losing side, you'd be called bonkers. Yet, that was what happened. Absolutely thrilling.

Markets this week will be less exciting of course, after an eventful past week in which we also saw a rollercoaster of emotions that started off with the US CPI data and culminated with a more hawkish ECB. In between, we also got a hawkish Fed, dovish BOE and what looks to be a meltdown in the equities rally since October.

The greenback is slightly lower on the day but on the balance of things, it has held its ground relatively well after having looked to be doomed following the softer US consumer price inflation numbers on Tuesday last week.

As we approach year-end and the Christmas period, thinner liquidity conditions could exacerbate price movements so it may be a bit hard to gauge overall market sentiment. I'd say the best bet at this point would be to weigh up any moves relative to how equities are going to perform, especially since the technicals are hinting at a further move lower for stocks now.

The session ahead may prove to be a quiet one as the year starts to wind down, with the BOJ tomorrow being the last key risk event. But amid positioning flows and tax-loss selling, it might not be that quiet and straightforward before we get to the turn of the year.

0900 GMT - Germany December Ifo business climate index
0900 GMT - SNB total sight deposits w.e. 16 December
1100 GMT - UK December CBI trends total orders

That's all for the session ahead. I wish you all the best of days to come and good luck with your trading! Stay safe out there.

WC25

1 - Lionel Messi is the first player to score in all five rounds (group stage, Ro16, quarterfinals, semifinals, final) of a single World Cup tournament

2 - Kylian Mbappé's three goals sees him become only the second player to score a hat-trick in the final of a World Cup, also only the second player to score in back-to-back finals

3 - Emiliano Martínez has won all three penalty shootouts he has featured in for Argentina since his debut in June 2021

4 - Following his hat-trick against Argentina, Kylian Mbappé has now scored four World Cup final goals - the most by any player

5 - Lionel Messi won his fifth man of the match award in the final - the most in a single World Cup tournament

6 - The final between Argentina and France was the sixth time that six or more goals were scored in a World Cup final

10 - Lionel Messi's ten goal involvements (7 goals, 3 assists) in this World Cup is the most of any player since Diego Maradona in 1986 (subsequently equaled by Mbappé as well yesterday)

21 - Lionel Messi now has 21 goal involvements (13 goals, 8 assists) in the World Cup - the most of any player in the tournament's history