2) The inflation shake-up will hit 10 million private pension incomes: Experts warn that if Sunak announces a move to lower inflation on Wednesday, more than Rs 10 crore of pension income linked to the RBI will be lost.

3) Janet Yellen became the first female Treasury Secretary of the United States: Biden is reportedly planning to elect a former Federal Reserve chair when he becomes the 46th president of the United States in January.

4) How AstraZeneca went from acquisition goal to FDSE winner: Six years ago, things weren’t big for AstraZeneca. Now, the pharma company is worth more than $ 100 billion after its success with Oxford.

5) What does Britain ‘rollover’ trade agreement with Canada really mean?: Former negotiators, trade groups and trade experts say the continuum is good, but question the economic significance of the deal between the UK and Canada.

It happened overnight

ACyan stocks soared for US President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday, adding to the already bright mood from the progress of the Govt-19 vaccine to launch his White House transition and the prospect of a rapid global economic recovery.

President Donald Trump tweeted that he had told his committee to “do what needs to be done with regard to initial ethics.”

The futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.48 percent in early Asian trade.

Exciting Background MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan traded up 0.15 pc. Australia’s S&P / ASX 200 was 1.1pc strong, hitting its highest level in almost nine months, with energy stocks leading the pack.

Japan’s Nikkei was up 2.48 pc and Seoul’s Kospi was up 0.74 pc. Chinese blue chips and Hong Kong’s Hong Seng fell 0.75 pc and 0.08 pc, respectively.

Coming up today

Corporate: Compass, Greencore, Treat, UTG (Interim results), AO World, Brunswick, Pennon, Pets Home, Echo, Caledonia Investments (Full year); Intertech, Spectries, C.R.H. (Business Update)

Economy: U.S. Consumer Confidence (Nov); German IFO Confidence Study.