Look down to the very bottom on the Bloomberg list of estimates for US economic growth next year and you will find John Dunham. The Brooklyn-based economist stands alone in a survey that includes 89 of his peers in projecting a fall in American output next year.

The one item apparently not on investors’ holiday shopping lists: retail stocks.

The retail sector has taken a drubbing in the days leading up to Christmas, and not even the mighty Amazon has been spared.

The election of Donald Trump has sent consumer confidence surging to its highest point since January 2004, according to data released by the University of Michigan on Friday.

Vitol and its private equity partner Helios Investment Partners are to take full control of an African petrol station joint venture in a deal that values the business at $1.25bn*.

With only five trading days left in the year, the race is on for the title of this year’s best and worst performing major emerging-market currencies.

A measure of US new-home construction jumped 5.2 per cent last month to the highest rate since July, the latest sign of strength for the American housing market.

Metinvest, the troubled Ukrainian steel-maker, has launched a debt restructuring.

The Canadian economy shrank for the first time in five months in October, underscoring the fragility of the country’s recovery despite the recent rally in crude prices.

In his first foreign media interview since he was removed as PrivatBank chairman in Sunday’s state takeover, Olexandr Dubilet told the FT that the Ukrainian government’s move to nationalise the country’s biggest lender this week was unfounded, and there was no $5.5bn hole in its accounts.

Any hopes of the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting 20,000 before Christmas is looking dimmer by the minute.

Some encouraging news coming out from Malta, where a hijacked Libyan flight has been diverted to the island.

Malta’s prime minister has been made aware of a hijack of a internal Libyan flight that has been diverted to the island. Maltese state TV said the hijackers have hand grenades and are threatening to blow up the aircraft.

Glencore and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund have completed their deal to buy 19.5 of Russian state-run oil giant Rosneft, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced.

A collapse in house prices during the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis delivered a substantial knock to household wealth, hinting at rising inequality in the continent, according to new figures from the European Central Bank.

Vladimir Putin said the US Democrats should accept and learn from their defeat in November’s elections, saying they should stop blaming external factors such as Russia.

Italy’s interior minister has called a press conference amid reports that the suspect in the terrorist attack against a Christmas market in Berlin was shot in killed in the outskirts of Milan early on Friday.

The UK economy grew slightly faster than first forecast in the third quarter after the Brexit vote, expanding at a 0.6 per cent pace according to a final official reading.

Russian president Vladimir Putin’s set-piece end-of-year press conference has got under way with an upbeat assessment of the economy.

The Swiss economy is likely to stick on its current trajectory, judging from the latest reading of the KOF economic barometer.

Trading in Monte dei Paschi’s financial securities has been suspended after Italy’s third largest lender confirmed it will be needing government funds to help prop it up.

Shares in Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse are climbing this morning after the lenders were ordered to repay billions of dollars to the US Department of Justice overnight, while shares in Barclays were little changed after news of a US legal suit.

The French economy posted growth of 0.2 per cent in the third quarter, expanding after a small contraction in the previous period, according to official figures out this morning.

German police arrested two men in the north-western city of Duisburg in the early hours of Friday morning, suspecting them of preparing a terror attack on one of Germany’s largest shopping centres.

German consumers are feeling upbeat heading into the new year, reporting rising income expectations, indicating a pick-up in economic growth in Europe’s largest economy.