By Sujata Rao and Danilo Masoni
Thanks to Mitch McConnell, the U.S. Senate probably won't debate the measure upping stimulus payments to $2000 per head this side of the New Year, but the Senate Majority Leader hasn't managed to knock stock markets or dent expectations of a global growth rebound.
The optimism is reflected in world stocks just off record highs, firmer Wall Street futures and in the U.S. dollar index plumbing new 2-1/2 year lows; the euro is closing in on $1.23, a level last seen in April 2018.
The greenback is also down against almost every emerging market currency too, from the yuan to the Turkish lira. Oil remains above $51 a barrel, up more than 200% from March lows while growth-sensitive copper and aluminium are near multi-year highs.
On the Brexit front, the UK Houses of Parliament will debate and pass the trade deal agreed with the European Union last week despite grumblings from Northern Irish lawmakers. The pound is holding above $1.35.
Good news too from Spain where Unicaja and Liberbank have approved a merger that creates the country's fifth biggest lender, marking an acceleration of the sector's consolidation following the recent Caixabank and Bankia M&A deal.
Key developments that should provide more direction to markets on Wednesday:
-UK Houses of Parliament to debate and vote on Brexit deal
-Britain has approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca
-U.S. detects first case of COVID-19 variant after it was found across Europe, in Canada, Australia, India, South Korea and Japan
-Indonesia and South Korea's LG Group have signed a memorandum of understanding on a $9.8 billion electric vehicle battery investment deal
-China and EU may clinch a deal giving EU firms better access to Chinese markets