All eyes are on former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh.

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Daily Briefing

Daily Briefing

By Linda Noakes

Hello. Trump's nomination of a new Federal Reserve chair will lift a cloud of uncertainty that has hung over markets for months.

SpaceX is in merger talks with other Musk companies ahead of a blockbuster IPO.

And why an end may be in sight to more than 50 years of mutual constraints on nuclear weapons.

Today's Top News

 
The US Federal Reserve building in Washington as construction work continues.

The Federal Reserve building in Washington as construction work continues. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

  • President Donald Trump is expected to name a successor to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell today after a White House meeting with former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, who has said the US central bank needs "regime change" to regain lost credibility.
  • Trump endorsed a spending deal negotiated by US Senate Republicans and Democrats to avoid a government shutdown, although he acknowledged one could still occur, while lawmakers continued negotiating guardrails to rein in immigration agents.
  • Student organizers have called for walkouts and protests across the United States to demand that federal immigration agents withdraw from Minnesota, after two fatal shootings of US citizens generated public outrage.
  • Trump said it was dangerous for Britain to be getting into business with Beijing, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer lauded the economic benefits of resetting relations with China during a visit there. We look at how Starmer's trip shows the drawbacks of a 'China pivot'.
  • The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led group the Syrian Democratic Forces said they had agreed to a comprehensive ceasefire and a phased integration of military and administrative bodies into the Syrian state under a broad deal.
  • Trump said he planned to speak with Iran, even as the US dispatched another warship to the Middle East. Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sat down with the Reuters World News podcast to talk about US foreign policy.
  • The Kremlin said that President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a personal request from Trump to halt strikes on Kyiv until February 1 to create "favourable conditions" for peace talks.
 

Business & Markets

 
A Falcon 9 rocket behind a countdown clock displaying a photo of NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members in Cape Canaveral

A countdown clock displaying a photo of NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members in Cape Canaveral. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo

  • SpaceX is exploring deals with other companies helmed by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, leaving investors working through permutations between space, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence to analyze which combination makes the most sense.
  • China has given its top AI startup DeepSeek approval to buy Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips with regulatory conditions that are still being finalized, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
  • Apple forecast higher-than-expected revenue growth of up to 16% for the March quarter, powered by strong demand for its iPhones and a sharp rebound in China and accelerating demand in India.
  • Amazon is in talks to invest dozens of billions in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and the figure could be as high as $50 billion, a source told Reuters.
  • Trump said the US was decertifying Bombardier Global Express business jets and threatened 50% import tariffs on all aircraft made in Canada until the country's regulator certified a number of planes produced by US rival Gulfstream.
  • Panama's Supreme Court has annulled key port contracts held by a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, leaving the future ownership of some Panama Canal operations unclear.
 

The Week Ahead

  • Investors will look for evidence of a strengthening US jobs market in the monthly employment report next Friday, as they assess the prospects for further rate cuts.
  • Meanwhile, another heavy crop of earnings reports is about to land. Among them are two of the 'Magnificent Seven' megacap companies: Google parent Alphabet and Amazon, which just confirmed 16,000 corporate job cuts.
  • The European Central Bank meets on Thursday and investors will be on the look-out for any indication on how a stronger euro might impact rates. 
  • Asia's premier aviation event is poised to showcase planes, parts and weapons as the industry juggles growing demand for air travel with geopolitical challenges and chronic supply constraints.
  • Here's a look at the week ahead in markets.
 

US and Russia teeter on brink of new arms race

 
An unarmed missile is test-launched off the coast of California in 2018.

An unarmed missile is test-launched off the coast of California in 2018. Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo

The United States and Russia could embark on an unrestrained nuclear arms race for the first time since the Cold War, unless they reach an eleventh-hour deal before their last remaining arms control treaty expires in less than a week.

The New START treaty is set to end on February 5. Without it, there would be no constraints on long-range nuclear arsenals for the first time since Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed two historic agreements in 1972 on the first-ever trip by a US president to Moscow.

Read more
 

The Week in Pictures

Indian soldiers march during the Republic Day parade in New Delh

Indian soldiers march during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

See a selection of our top photography from around the world this week.