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Top of the morning, Opening Bell crew. I’m senior reporter Phil Rosen, rounding out my last few days in Manhattan before heading west for the holidays.
If you pick one thing to watch today besides the World Cup (go Argentina), make it this morning’s inflation report, due at 8:30 AM ET.
Economists broadly expect this year’s final Consumer Price Index reading to show inflation easing, but nonetheless running at triple what it was before the pandemic, about 7.3% year-over-year.
Remember, inflation accelerated to a four-decade high of 9.1% back in June, and most recently clocked in at 7.7% in October.
That said, policymakers are expected to announce a 50-basis-point rate hike Wednesday, regardless of the reading, which would be the fifth outsized hike in a row.
Stay tuned for our coverage of Fed day and the market reaction tomorrow.
By the way: Bahamian authorities arrested ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried last night, at the request of the US government. Hours after his arrest, the SEC announced it will file separate charges against SBF relating to violations of securities law. This is a developing story.
Now let’s talk China and oil.
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1. President Xi Jinping is pushing to buy oil using yuan, a move that threatens to rattle global energy trade and hit at the long-standing dominance of the US dollar.
At a summit with Arab leaders on Friday, Xi said China will continue to import large volumes of energy supplies from Gulf states, and settle payments using its own currency.
“The Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange platform will be fully utilized for RMB settlement in oil and gas trade,” Xi said, according to a transcript of his speech published by the state-run China Daily.
While the president didn’t specify when the change would go into effect, and whether Gulf nations will take up the proposal, it’s been reported that Saudi Arabia — the world’s top oil exporter — has already been in talks for months to trade oil in yuan with China.
