The Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial is up 0.2% at 6:15 ET, the S&P by 0.3% and the Stoxx Europe 600 gauge was almost flat. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index ended the day up 0.5%.

Morale is still high in the financial markets, as Iran US relations seem to be easing. The absence of immediate war escalation, with the exception of sporadic missile launches by Tehran, has reassured investors.

Washington's unexpected decision to make Soleimani disappear seems to have petrified Tehran, which at the same time finds itself accused of the destruction, by mistake, of a Boeing 737 of Ukraine International Airlines with a missile.

To justify the killing of Soleimani, Trump said in a conference that the general was fomenting the destruction of the American embassy in Baghdad. He then moved on to the US China deal, announcing in another interview that he is still considering signing a trade deal with China on January 15 "or very soon thereafter," i.e. next week. Business as usual. However, he would wait until after November for the signing of a phase 2 agreement.

Meanwhile, US companies are doing well and should be offering record returns to their shareholders. The $500bn mark paid by S&P 500 companies is expected to be surpassed for the first time in 2020, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, after $485.5bn in 2019. However, the average return declined from 2.2 to 1.8% compared to the beginning of 2019, due to the 30% average increase posted by equities.

Some news on Brexit. The House of Commons voted by 330 votes to 231 to allow Britain to leave the EU under the terms of the agreement renegotiated by Boris Johnson in the autumn. The text is now going through the House of Lords to come into force before January 31, which should allow the whimsical British Prime Minister to keep his promise, which he has not always been able to do in the past.

In other news, the Bank of England said it had some interesting leeway to lower its rates. According to its governor Mark Carney, the institution has considerable room for maneuver to support its economy. "The economy has been sluggish, the slowdown has increased and inflation is below target," the governor said. After weathering a wave of monetary easing that has affected most economies around the world, the BoE is taking a somewhat more accommodative stance. The future decision may rest on the shoulders of Andrew Bailey, who will succeed Mark Carney in March.

An interesting element to observe in the bond markets. The proportion of BBB-rated bonds (investment grade limit) has risen from 42% to 50% within the Barclays U.S Corporate Bond Index benchmark. However, the return on risk seems to have declined. The yield spread between BBB (investment grade) and BB (high-yield) bonds reached 33 basis points in December 2018, its lowest level in 25 years: risk seems to be remunerated less and less.

On the other hand, risk-taking is remunerated in a different way, hence the need to observe duration. For BBB-rated bonds, it has risen from 7.1 to 7.86 years (increase in risk). The duration of BB bonds, on the other hand, was increased from 4,35 to 3,51 years (risk reduction). It is therefore necessary not to focus solely on yield spreads when assessing the remuneration for the risk, since here the remuneration is reflected in the duration.

Today in Europe, the focus will be on French and Italian industrial production. Investors are mainly awaiting the release of monthly employment data in the United States. U.S. wholesale inventories will follow later today.