Quick Overview

• U.S. Jobless claims were down 26,000 to 299,000.
  

• The DoE said that supplies of natural gas were down 49 billion cubic feet to 3.025 trillion cubic feet
  

• The Bank of England today surprised the market with a 25 bp hike in the base rate to 5.25%. The market consensus was for an unchanged policy.
  

• Australia’s unemployment rate stayed at 4.6%.
  

• The European Central Bank kept its interest rate unchanged at 3.50%.
  

• Germany's real GDP was up 2.5% in 2006.
  

• Japan's index of leading indicators dropped from 54.5% to 20.0% in November, indicative of economic slowing ahead.