and she deserves it. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning. thank you for watching. ♪ good morning and welcome to "street signs." i'm joumanna bercetche. >> and i'm silvia amaro and these are your headlines. european equities open in the green with the positivity poised to contcontina ahead of .

cpi print. marks ann spencer's slips as the british retailer warns of cost increases and maintains guidance. and in asia, the nikkei continues to pass the 35,000 mark to hit the highest level since 1990. why the urging of the doj needs to start raising rates. good morning and welcome to "street signs." it has been a busy 24 hours of the cryptocurrency space. now we know the u.s. s.e.c. has actually approved rule changes

to allow the creation of the bitcoin etfs. the first funds trading later today. crypto advocates say this will boost volumes by attracting fresh retail investment. >> and we are seeing reaction in the cryptocurrency moves. bitcoin prices moved slightly higher on the news with the s.e.c. due to make a decision in etfs in may. this is interesting after what happened to the s.e.c. account yesterday, really, on x. there is a lot happening on the crypto space. thankfully we have arjun with us. >> he will join us in a moment. before we get there, it is key to talk about the price action in bitcoin today. up .90%.

silvia, there is an expression in finance is buy the roumor an sell the fact. anytime i spoken to anyone in crypto, they talk about the carrot dangling in front of the community about the possibility of a bitcoin etf. we know there is approval despite the back and forth in the last 24 hours and it will happen. we have not seen any reaction on the price of bitcoin. this was baked into the price. the question becomes what is the next catalyst for the move higher? arjun has talked about bitcoin halves, but it is a well known fact. you think perhaps all the of this is to do with rate cut expectations which is similar to what we see in broader equity markets. >> it is also the question that i have at this stage about what will happen to bitcoin? it seems we are seeing investors

paying attention to the next big thing and next etf. will the love for bitcoin dissipate throughout the year? as you mentioned, when it comes to rate cuts, that could be a catalyst for investors to pay more attention to crypto, of course. when you look at some of the forecasts for bitcoin prices this year and i was looking at the data from the bank early this morning. they don't expect a huge increase in bitcoin for 2024. they say it shows remaining below 20,000 mark this year. there are a lot of things moving in the crypto space. >> the bear iish perspective coming in from the bank. all of the people have talked about bitcoin being an inflation hedge. the rally has been dropping. with that, let's get to arjun

who is joining us from the sunny climate of st. moritz. what are they saying? >> reporter: you can understand, joumanna, there is a lot of excitement around it. the promise here is an etf creates a product where investors don't need to buy the underlining cryptocurrency and own bitcoin, they he ca can buy etf. this will buy inflows from bitcoin. a lot of the participants say this is a big endorsement from bitcoin by the regulatregulator. 11 approved applications by the s.e.c. and blackrock and arc investment and other names as well. i want to bring up two interesting points. first, bitcoin barely moved. 150% run-up in 2023.

much of that built on the excitement of the etfs. ethereum, spiked nearly 10% after the announcement. that is because investors are anticipateing the s.e.c. approving the etf must now approve for ethereum. the second point was the statement from s.e.c. chair gary gensler. he said just because we approved bitcoin etf doesn't mean we will approve a bunch of p cryptocurrency assets. this signals the willingness to approve crypto asset ises securities. he stated most in the s.e.c. views are ss are securities. bitcoin is speculative and can be used in a litany of activity. we approve certain spot etf

shares. part that have is gary gengler pouring cold water. very positive for markets here and the industry is excited about this development and a big endorsement of bitcoin. >> arjun, the distinction is taking me back to the discussions about the future of the asset class and how regulators would look at them. important to get that clarification from the s.e.c. a big development for the crypto community. let's talk about the c conventional markets. s&p is actually up on the year. year to date is finally in the green up .50%. the asia equities positive as well. stoxx 600 is up .50% this morning. very strong start to the day

compared to the price action we he had yesterday. today is firmly in the green. a lot of the stocks are trading in positive territory. in the terms of the individual markets, the ftse 100 has seen some action. we will talk to arabile about that in a moment. m & s is the worst performing in the ftse 100. we will talk more about that later. cac 40 is up 30 points today. .40% firmer. we are seeing a bit of a bounce in luxury names and industrial names in the basket as well. the underperforming names in the banking space.

bnp is lower . soc gen is lower after downgrades on the stock. dax is 90 points higher. in terms of sectors, this is where lipscombing from. every sector in the green with the exception of banks. we have autos up at the top 1.3%. a bit of a delayed reaction from the german automakers. tech is taking the cue from what is happening in the u.s. having a better session today up .80%. it is a huge day for u.s. markets today because we have that all important u.s. inflation print to watch out for. that will be key for investors. as you can see, the three indices are seen opening up in positive territory.

although mildly so. a continuation of yesterday's price action. let's look at the cpi print in more detail because it is expected to point to a modest acceleration in headline inflation rising from 3.1% in november to 3.2% on the year. core inflation is seen coming down slightly to 3.8%. in terms of some of the comments we have seen with the new york fed president john williams who says it is still too soon to make a call on rate cuts. insisting the fed is away from bringing inflation away from the 2% target. williams said he expects the fed to maintain restrictive policy stance for some time. any cut in rates would be justified when inflation is seen falling back down to target. looking ahead to the bank earnings tomorrow, williams said

the liquidity levels do not see any need to move the balance sheet. 2024 is the year of u.s. stagflation with the pimco report. pimco says central banks very likely finished hiking cycles, but risks remain elevated. we have the executive vice president and portfolio manager from pimco joins us to talk through the report. nicola, the comment from the update signals what we saw from world bank. for the third year in a row, they downgraded the expectations or see slower growth for the world. where is this bearishness coming from? >> thank you so much.

good morning. i think we need to recognize, first of all, the global economy has been very resilient, driven by a strong u.s. consumer. we don't think this resilience will not last. the reasons are two. the first is we had a big fiscal sugar rush in 2023 with the u.s. budget deficit widening with excess savings from the pandemic checks in the system which has been supporting the activity. the pass through of monetary policy has been slow partly given the long debt maturities in the u.s. think about mortgages which are 30 years on average. now as we look to 2024, the effects will change. first, fiscal policy is set to turn contractary across the globe.

secondly, the excess savings, the pandemic checks that are sloshing in the systems, will do down in real terms as inflation is eroding the real value of the savings. that boost from legacy fiscal policy and legacy fiscal stimulus will fade. the more time goes by, the higher drag from the rates will bite. in europe, we're seeing a quicker pass through of monetary policy and we are seeing lesser fiscal system less than in the u.s. and you are seeing a weak economy. looking forward, the u.s. will look more european in our view. >> interesting. reading between the lines, fiscal still in the driving seat. let's turn to maconetary policy. this is the year that the fed is expected to cut rates. if we do see the beginning of a

usustained rate cutting cycle from the fed and others, what will that do to growth pro prospects? >> that is a good question. i think the focus is squarely on rate cuts here. i think central banks reached peak. we are seeing meaningful disinflation. i think the markets may have gotten ahead of themselves with rate cut expectations for 2024. you know, the markets are pricing 140 basis points of cuts by the fed and the ecb about 120 for the bank of england. with rate cuts starting, you know, early this year. i think that may be a little bit optimistic in the sense that central banks still see high wage inflation and central banks are focused on not being the arthur burns making the mistake that arthur burns made in the past of easing policy too

quickly before beating inflation. i think actually rate cuts will happen this year, but they could be a little less than the market is anticipating. you could have less monetary support to the global economy than the market anticipates. if you look beyond 2024, there is potential for rates to fall more than the market is anticipating. i think about 2025 and beyond. you know, if you look at previous cutting cycles, generally speaking, markets tend to underestimate the depth of the cutting cycles and we still think the equilibrium rates are low. we are concentrating on 2024, but we see meaningful cuts which is why we like the belly of the curve. >> it is silvia joining the conversation here. i would like to ask about the different speeds of central

banks because one line in your report suggests that central banks have been equal in raising rates, but going ahead, the cuts could be more differentiated. how is that likely to play in the bond market and how is that likely to geographies? >> i think there will be quite a bit of difference. they have not hiked so far, but the higher inflation trend should support interest rate hikes going forward. when it comes to the major developed market and central banks, i think actually there is potentially room for the difference here with europe being weaker than the u.s. and seeing potentially the quicker or deeper cutting cycle going

forward. in that regard, i would mention the uk. if you look at the interest rate in the front end of the curve, the rate expectation for the uk and u.s. are pretty much aligned for the next few years. the uk economy is a lot weaker than the u.s. also, the equilibrium rate is lower given the lower growth potential. there could be opportunities, for example, in the uk bond space here. >> i would also like to draw your attention to the u.s. market more specifically because one of the main themes for the year is naturally the upcoming u.s. election. i wonder if you could talk about the fact that we might see a republican candidate winning the election. what would that mean for the u.s. treasuries? >> first of all, it is too hard

to speculate who will win this election. i think the key points to watch will be fiscal the policies and how the different parties will approach fiscal and foreign relations as well which will have an impact. we are foccused on the u.s. electric. election. it is too early. >> nicola, we will leave it there. thank you. fascinating to hear your perspectives on how you think the year will pay out. nicola mai from pimco. coming up on the show, we turn attention once more to crypto as the s.e.c. gives bitcoin etfs the green light. let's head back out to arjun, who i believe is in an igloo at st. moritz. >> we will get a look ahead to bitcoin's next big event, the

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welcome back to the show. the s.e.c. has changed its rules

to approve a slew of spot bitcoin etfs. one fund approved from ark invest whose president and coo, tom staff, told cnbc said the funds will make it easier for investors to trade crypto. >> it is higher initiative behind etf to get bitcoin for that exposure. to remove any friction and pain points investors may have had. whether it was custody or the ability to access that within a garden with gatekeepers and ana analysts. >> now, we have arjun joining us again from st. moritz. >> reporter: cysilvia, i'm excid to talk about the chairman of the trading commission and c

co-founder of the digital dollar foundation. there is a lot of excitement. the industry is pumped about it. they think this will underpin the next bull run for the cryptocurrency. >> arju,n, good morning. it is a big investment in the asset class. the area i have focused on is digital currency and bitcoin and the role in the global financial system related to traditional currency like the dollar and euro and chinese yuan. there has been global debate whether cryptocurrency and bitcoin is a threat to traditional currency. one reason why it has taken ten years for etfs and five years

after we green lighted futures, is to see if bitcoin is a threat to the u.s. dollar. the significance of the announcement is a resolution of the issue among the biden administration that bitcoin and the dollar can co-exist. this move forward is a signal that bitcoin is here to stay and any chance that a government like the u.s. might outlaw it is probably now put to bed. >> reporter: from one former regulator to the current regulator, it has a lot of the issues with the approach to the regu regulation to foster innovation. what is your take the way gary gensler and s.e.c. has appr approached? >> five years ago, the cftc green lighted bitcoin futures. five years later, that market is

transparent and liquid and well regulated and relatively fraud free. cftc demonstrated that u.s. regulators engage with crypto by bringing inside the regulatory envelope. my disappointment with the s.e.c. is that it has taken them five years to come to where the sister agency was able to get to. >> two years ago yesterday, the price of ethereum spiked on the back of the decision. and gary gensler said don't expect the flood gates to open for digital assets. we still think bitcoin is speculative. there is excitement and the industry is on tenterhooks. >> i'll go back to my own s

experience. there was a tremendous movement in the cftc movement for green lighting ethereum futures. that did come 18 months later. i would be shocked if there is now a growing building of retail and institutional demand and the s.e.c. will have to deal with the growing demand for that product. >> i want to pick up on the point earlier. the conversations around the co-existence of bitcoin and u.s. dollar. that bitcoin is not a threat to the reserve krurcurrencies of t world. you are heavily involved in the projects around the digital dollar. how do we make a digital version of the u.s. dollars? many trials going on around the world. we have seen it in china in action. the euro, et cetera. what are the conversations?

where are we on the path to a digital dollar? >> when i left in 2019, i formed the digital dollar project which asks the following question. how do we future proof the dollar? how do we preserve the reserve currency status? how do we enhance the principles that the dollar stands for? free commerce and international trade and enterprise and privacy for economic transactions. how do we do so in the value becoming decentralized? some run by governments like the digital yuan or digital euro or stablecoin. that is the question we need to ask, but not if the u.s. needs

to deploy a digital dollar. what the globe needs to do in the digital network world, that the dollar is an important pricing tool. that is a question not asked enough. >> christopher, thank you for your insight from the etf to the future of the u.s. dollar. christopher giancarlo. that's it from our geuests here. back to you. >> arjun, i thought that interview was interesting. it sheds a lot of light on the approaches to crypto from the cftc and s.e.c. thank you. cnbc will speak to a number of crypto industry names like michael novogratz and cathie wood. do not miss this on "squawk box"

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welcome to "street signs." i'm silvia amaro. >> and i'm joumanna bercetche and these are your headlines. >> the s.e.c. approves the first spot etf with 11 funds poised to start trading as soon as today. european equity markets open well in the green with the positivity poised to continue on wall street ahead of the u.s. cpi print amid expectations the december reading will under scunderscore the prospect of rates cuts. and marks & spencers dips to the bottom of the ftse 100 as it warns it maintains guidance as

tesco upgrades its forecast. in asia, nikkei passes the 35,000 mark level since 1990. silvia is excited to tell you the news. i was in a hurry to show you how the market action is at this stage because it is a very exciting day for the markets. u.s. cpi print in the united states due in a couple hours time. this is how u.s. futures are showing in terms of how u.s. stocks are likely to open in a couple of hours time. you can tell that it is a positive picture. we're seeing a little bit of positive ho men tum in the u.s. stocks continuing some of the momentum that we he had seen already on wednesday's session. i also want to take you to some

of the action in asia. this is one market that we are following closely. at this stage, you can see that there is a positive move in several markets in asia. we are keeping a close eye on the nikkei 225. the nikkei 222 the nikkei 225 is up 1.7%. we are seeing this market hitting a new landmark that we have not seen since early 1990. closing above the 35,000 mark. that is largely powered by the health tech and consumer services stocks. the oecd is warning to make the bond yield control policy more flexible if inflation stays at its 2% target. the boj is looking to see higher

moves. we are looking at the move in the equities. joumanna, we are suggesting this move is a little bit premature in the sense it is too early to take a dovish stance from the boj despite some of the comments we are getting from the central bank as well. one question at this stage if this is premature. nonetheless, it is an interesting moment for japanese equities. >> one thing, silvia, 2022 was the year of expectations for the bank of japan. month after month, we got further signals from the bank of japan governor stating they were not thinking about moving away from the central bank policy.

latest meeting in december which came and went with nothing means they were watching that closely, but not ready to make a decision until the spring wage negotiations come there. if they make a decision, it will not come before the end of spring. you need to think about the tragic earthquake on new year's day. that, to some degree, dampened the bank of japan doing anything haw hawkish. >> for context, i would highlight in 2023, we saw some similar moves in japanese equities. it is an important market to monitor throughout the year. i want to take you to some of the action we're seeing right now here in europe. that positive sentiment we saw yesterday on wall street continues into asia. it is also happening here in europe.

we are seeing the main index. the ftse 100 in the uk is up by .10%. the cac 40 is up by .30%. across the board, even the fact the moves are different from one to the other, the overall picture is similar. it is a positive one. over here in the uk, one sector we are following is the retailers. we have been hearing from several of them in the last 24 hours. spencers is trading among the bottom of the index. >> the darling of the ftse 100 last year and today is not the case with it down 5%.

arabile has been looking at ea the earnings. which story to pick up on? today it is 5% lower. >> it really is a story of two pots, if you will. one pot is up to christmas as a retailer faring well. sainsbury is positive. christmas grocery sales 8.6%. overall picture is the worry. it only grew 6%. that is because of non-food. the merchandise segment was the struggle for them. surprisingly, you have the other brands are able to come in with the non-stood segment. m & s numbers are good leading up to christmas. the outlook post-christmas means what happens from there which causes marks & spencer some

worry. it was the fastest growing supermarket in the christmas quarter. shares up 7% over the past year. significant to add that they have been on a tear and perhaps investors looking back and saying perhaps not so much right now. if we focus on tesco, they come out with their third quarter numbers as well. britain's largest supermarket chain faring just as good as aldi and lidl. tesco holding their own. market share growing to 29%. interesting to look at that. ample cash generation for tesco resonating with investors although that is a slightly more benign move. tesco with 22% higher over the past year. >> let's discuss with our next

quest. charlie huggins as wealth club. thank you for joining us this morning. we have heard from several retailers and our colleague, arabile, was breaking down the message from the retailers. what is the main message and what does it say in the health of the uk supermarket? >> i think at the moment, it is hard to escape the confusion that the uk consumer is still spending if you look back to the start of last year. there were a lot of worries with the economy and the health of the uk consumer. i don't think anyone reading results from tesco and sainsbury and marks & spencer.

is that still to come? people will refinance mortgages this year. interest rates have come a long way. is there a lack of the interest rates on the economy and will we start to see a slowd down of th uk consumer in 2024? that is the question. we have seen from m&s, the cost pressures have not gone away. the living wage has come a long way. that is a headwind for retailers. they need to maintain good efforts to contend with the cost headwinds. >> i'm glad you brought up the outlook for 2024. the british consortium said it doesn't make amends for a challenging 2023.

from all of the companies, which ones are in a better position to withstand a challenging 2024? >> i think as we head toward 2024, consumers will be increasingly discerning about where they shop. we have seen the disparity from super drive which has struggled and compared that with the max and m & s. i think we are going to see more discernment from consumers about where they spend their money. that is the key thing to watch in 2024. for any retailer, execution is key. self help and scale. you look at tesco, they have a lot of scale advantages over the competition. that should maintain low prices. we have seen an update and a

scale villageadvantage over the competition. maybe self help is more important heading into 2024. >> nothing speaks of self help more than what is happening with m & s stock the last year. today, we are seeing an adverse reaction in the stock. i thought it was interesting to look at the divergence of what they reported on uk sales up 8%, but international sales up 6.4%. it didn't fare as well as the uk economy. what signals does that give you about the future of where m& s should focus? >> i think the uk business will always be the big driver. the international business did struggle over the christmas period. they will take a long look at that and say do we need to play in some of the overseas rs regi?

it is a fairly small part of the group. the key thing is sustaining the momentum behind the self help program which was a benefit to them in 2023. part of the adverse reaction today is investors have given in because of the expectations have risen. so, overall, i think there are good signs from self help program. the brand is resonating than what it once was with clothing and food. it has come a long way. we need more good news here to sustain that. >> that makes sense. sorry, to clarify, i was going back and forth. international sales did fall

6.4%. let me ask a question about the distinction of the grocery segment versus apparel and other merchandise. you see the numbers. groceries did better than expected. general merchandise is disappointing. clothing sales disappointing. i wonder to what extent the clothing segment of the market is driven by other forces with fast fashion. >> there is heavy discounting. clothing is always a competitive section of the market. what i said earlier, retailers really need to have a self help angle or strong angle. the uk consumer is still spending.

if the economy does start to weaken a bit in 2024, it will be harder with the promotional market. we saw the profit warning as well recently. there are tentative signs it will be tougher in 2024. i think that is something investors will focus on right now. >> actually looking closely at sainsbury and they bought argos in 2016 and this was also the part of this update that seems to be struggling, i wonder at this stage if sainsbury needs to rethink the acquisition of argos and if this is the moment to think about the issue of getting rid of it? >> i think we should watch about the statements. they will take a long-term view.

the brand was struggling when they bought it. it has benefitted from the sainsbury umbrella. clearly, that is something management will want to track over a longer period. it does make sense to have both under the same umbrella. sainsbury can bring the advantages to that. clearly if argos and that division continues to struggle, they have to look at it because food is the core proposition. they want to minimize distraction. this is not the environment to be beyond any distraction. that is something that will remain front of mind. >> interesting. charlie, thank you so much for joining us today on the show. charlie huggins from wealth club. coming up on the show, we will talk about politics.

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welcome back to "street signs." the international court of justice in the hague has opened the case of genocide against israel. it was brought on october 7th before accusing israel of subjecting palestinians of genocide acts. 24,000 people have been killed since the start of the war with thousands more displaced. israel has called the charges atrocious. the u.s. and uk forces shoot down houthi missiles and drones. it could launch military action if attacks in the red sea continue. and bank of england governor andrew bailey is monitoring the red sea closely warning it could

become an issue for monetary policy. speaking in front of the committee, bailey expects shipping prices and costs to rise if traffic continues to be impacted. a short comment on this, silvia, charges for transporting a 40-foot container from china to europe is $4,000. back in december, it costs about $1,100. that is a 250% jump in shipping costs. you have to imagine at some point, if this continues, and sustained, that these ships are diverted or have to take different routes or no longer shipping through the region, there could be an inflation ary impact. >> we are looking at potential central bank rate cuts and this is an important story to follow with the context of the global economy.

i want to discuss the nato allies which pledged further military and economic and humanitarian support to ukraine to defend itself against russia. member states are actually providing billions of euro of further capabilities this year. peace talks are expected to take place in davos next week. governor ron desantis and nikki haley traded barbs before the iowa caucuses. the frontrunner in the race, the former president trump, was once again absent from the debate stage. instead, taking part in the town hall hosted by fox news. we have nbc's brie jackson joining us now with the latest. brie. >> reporter: good morning. last night, former u.n. ambassador nikki haley and

governor ron desantis were trying to get a boost to the campaigns in a distant race for second place. that one-on-one format put the two candidates issues on foreign policy front and center as they position themselves to former president trump. this was the fifth debate that trump skipped. he held a town hall the same time as the debate. trump hinted he knows his running mate if he wins the gop nomination. this comes days before the critical iowa caucus. trump maintains a lead over his republican rivals despite his ongoing legal battles. m meantime, chris christie jhas

dropped out of the race last night. christie was caught on a hot mic saying he does not think haley is up to the challenge. back to you. >> that was a hot mic moment to be captured and not reflect well. at the same time, he is one of the only candidates who has expressed publicly what he says in private. to what extent is the figure head of trump hanging over the rest of the candidates? >> reporter: well, trump has that commanding lead over the republican party. you are right. chris christie was vocal against trump saying he was getting in the race to keep trump from claiming the white house. now this puts pressure on desantis and haley to take a stance on how they feel about former president trump. some have kpshied away from

criticizing the former president. last night, during that fox news town hall, former president trump was asked about whether or not he would try to get back at his political opponent if he did win that second term. >> thank you, brie. we will monitor u.s. politics. this is how u.s. futures are suggesting in terms of u.s. stock trade in a few hours time. it is a positive picture as you can tell on the screen. all eyes on the cpi print. >> do not forget. that was our first show together. that is it for the show. i'm joumanna bercetche with silvia amaro. "worldwide exchange" is coming up next.

it is 5:00 a.m. here at cnbc global headquarters and here is your "five@5." we start with the s.e.c. approving the first ever spot bitcoin etf. it is called a game changer. will it spark a wider range of adoption? also, seven days and no solution from boeing as united and alaska continues to cancel hundreds of flights a day because of the fleet. what david calhoun told phil lebeau. and the countdown is on for what could be a major market