Notes Today:

• Sydney CBD surpassed 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) on Saturday while swathes of western New South Wales, South Australia and northern Victoria baked through even higher temperatures nearing 45 degrees. 

• Reuters: With just five weeks left until the United Kingdom finally exits the EU’s orbit on Dec. 31, both sides are calling on the other to compromise on the three main issues of contention - fishing, state aid and how to resolve any future disputes. 

• Mexico’s GDP rose 12.1% QoQ - the best going back to 1990

• Profits at Chinese industrial firms surged 28.2% YoY in October to 642.91 billion-yuan ($97.79 billion), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Friday, after rising 10.1% in September versus the previous year.

• China's unofficial restrictions on coal imports from Australia are having more than just an impact on miners down under, it's hurting steel producers in China and helping those elsewhere.
  

• An Iranian scientist was killed in an ambush near Tehran on Friday that could provoke confrontation between Iran and its foes in the last weeks of  Trump's presidency.