tom: these are the stories that set your agenda. france's president names eric lombard as the country's new

finance minister. he will be tasked with cutting the deficit and getting a budget over the line by mid-february. the u.s. national security panel deadlocks on the sale of u.s. steel to nippon steel, paving the way for president joe biden to kill the deal. shares in honda surge after the automaker announces plans to buy back as much as $7 billion of stock, easing concerns about a tie-up with ailing peer nissan. tom: good morning, december the 24th, happy christmas eve. european futures pointing lower 0.5%, despite the upside that has come through across the asian session. we have headlines crossing the last few minutes around reporting suggesting that china plans to issue more treasury

issuance in 2025, partly to defund a splurge on the consumer, to ensure the consumer has enough funds to keep buying. emphasis on the chinese consumer again according to that reporting. ftse 100 futures pointing to gains of 0.5%. s&p futures flat, nasdaq in similar territory it but you did see gains yesterday for the nasdaq and s&p by 1%, despite the fact that the consumer sentiment survey of health of the lowest level in three months, you saw big rallies for mega tech names particularly the likes of nvidia. across the asian session, tsmc is pushing higher, notching a record high in taiwan. let's have a look cross asset before we get on to the asian session. the u.s. 10-year currently yielding 4.58, volumes will be thin today given where we are in the calendar, euro-dollar back below 1.04 for the single currency, brent trading a little

higher at 72.96. and gold at 2006 hundred $19, the yellow metal up 0.2%. let's have a look on the asian session. the lines around china and its plans to issue more treasuries, more sovereign debt in 2025. across the benchmark, gains in asia of 0.4%. the csi 300 mainland china currently up 0.8%. decent session for mainland stocks despite the news that president biden and the team at the white house are looking at have started an investigation into so-called legacy chips that will end up at some point on the desk of incoming president trump. the nikkei currently at 39,000, down 0.2% in japan, and a focus on what the finance minister has been saying around the currency. teeing up speculation that there will be more intervention. there is verbal intervention at this stage, the japanese yen

currently up at 157 versus the u.s. dollar. to the politics of france, we have some developments on that front. we have been waiting for it, of course, french president emmanuel macron appointed eric lombard as the finance minister. the experienced finance professional will be tasked with passing a 2025 budget and lowering the deficit. let's bring in claudia cohen in paris. what does the new cabinet look like and tell us more about the finance minister? >> i would say, first of all, but there is no real change, no real major change in the cabinet. because a few of michel barnier, former prime minister, were actually reappointed. a lot of emmanuel macron veterans were also reappointed. the big surprise was actually two old prime ministers were

appointed in the new government. in terms of the center-right orientation of this new cabinet, it looks like the previous one. the one big surprise, maybe the christmas gift if i can say so for french people, is eric lombard, the new finance minister. he is a really well known financial person in france. he is a former banker and is a former top executive in the insurance sector. he worked at bnp paribas and generali before being appointed the new finance minister, he was the head of la caisse des depot, which is the public finance arm of the state. investing in long-term public housing, infrastructure and everything. dino is very well all the financial details of the french state.

tom: someone who brings real and deep experience when it comes to the french state and the world of finance. but more broadly, what are the main challenges facing this new cabinet? >> first of all, let's recall that the new cabinet will meet early january. on the third of january. on the 14th of january, francois bayrou the prime minister will lay out his plan during a speech at the national assembly. at this exact time, there could be a first no-confidence vote. he would need to convince from early january all the opposition, left-wing political parties but also far-right marine le pen. then if we go into some details, the main challenge is to elaborate the 2025 budget. here the tricky part will be to

find the best equilibrium between how much of public spending do you want to cut? and how much of tax increases do you want to add on corporates but also on households? if you cut too much public spending, then you will have all the socialists not happy about it. if you put too much pressure on households, you will have far-right marine le pen not happy about it at all. after the appointment of the new cabinet yesterday, francois bayrou was on french tv, and he had i would say a pro-business speech, saying that even the biggest companies should not take all the burden of the french deficit. if you talk to companies off the record, they would tell you there is a bit of relief at the

moment. obviously, they are waiting to see the details on the budget in early january. tom: we wait for that meeting in the new year. details of the budget as the new team starts to build on that. claudia cohan in paris. to the u.s. where president biden is set to make a final decision on the sale of u.s. steel to nippon steel, after a national security panel deadlocked on its review of the sale. the president has indicated his opposition to the transaction. let's bring in bloomberg's stephen stapczynski with the details. what do we know? >> the review came out, they were split on it. that means it goes to bite and to essentially be the tiebreaker.he has 15 days to decide whether to approve the deal. he had indicated he wasn't for it. he said that u.s. steel, a toyed american company, should be american-hound and should not

lead to any loss of employees or any closure of facilities. of course, there is a chance that he doesn't make a decision within the 15 days, but with incoming president trump he has said he would kill the deal. either way it is not looking very positive for nippon steel's offer. why is biden doing this? it seems to be an interesting movie especially since the u.s. is usually open to foreign direct investment but it was a tough election-year. i and is from pennsylvania, home to u.s. steel. the steel union has been against this deal out of fear that nippon steel might decide to close plans or layoff workers. the japanese company across the board has said they will not lay off any workers. u.s. steel's president had an op-ed in the new york times over the weekend saying that without

such a deal, the company would be in decline, they need the investment to upgrade their facilities and compete against a strong china. china is the world's largest producer of steel. it is difficult for u.s. steel to compete with china without a large investment from nippon steel. it is looking like biden is likely to scrap this i am the next 15 days.. nippon steel will be advocating for this to go through. they have already publicly. but it is something the market is watching very closely. tom: are we going to be looking back at this in one, 2, 3 year'' time at the demised potentially of u.s. steel and think this was a hostage to fortunes of political powers, the unions in the u.s., the idea that a japanese company would pose a national security threat, that a japanese company that is offering to invest in this

facility would be a challenge, is this the future for u.s. steel two years down the line when we unpick this? >> i think this will be looked at as potentially just really bad timing for nippon steel. when looking at the takeover, you are going into a tough election-year, they made the announcement december 20, 2030. i was actually in tokyo at a restaurant. i had to log into my uber terminal to write the story because that news was breaking. it was an election year. 2024 was going to be really tough. u.s. steel they have this deep history. they helped boost the u.s. economy to make the u.s. one of the most powerful countries in the world following world war ii. for a foreign company taking it over, even a u.s. ally, of course that would face opposition by certain states.

they could have looked at biden's history, he has a close connection to the unions and this state. was a miscalculation by nippon steel? they are offering such a large premium, over $14 billion to buy out the company, much more than the previous offers in 2023. despite that, they could not get it through. it is purely a political play. will we be looking at this a few years down the line? perhaps maybe we will be looking at what nippon steel does as a plan b, are they going to double down on other countries like india, and will the trump administration be saying we wish we got that investment instead? tom: excellent in terms of the context as we look at a deal likely to be scuppered by president biden. he has 15 days to respond. stephen joining out of singapore. to japan squarely but focus on

the automakers, honda shares soaring as much as 17%. you can see gains of close to 13%, after the japanese carmaker said it will buy back as much as $7 billion of stock. this follows yesterday's announcement of talks to effectively acquire ailing. nissan -- ailing peer nissan. >> the holding company will be incorporated and be listed on the prime market of the tokyo stock exchange subject to obtaining necessary approvals from relevant authorities in resolution at each company's general meeting of the shareholders. the visibility of the timing is august 2026. >> in order to work together, we need to benefit from the huge synergies. otherwise it wouldn't be meaningful in the eyes of the stakeholders. that is why we agreed to start the discussion. that is why we are making this announcement today. tom: bloomberg breaking news

editor gareth allen joins me now from tokyo. the markets seem to be chairing this. when we look at the share move in honda currently up 12.5%, is this investors responding to the buyback or to the buyout of nissan? >> it is very much the buyback that has been rated today. they cancel an existing 100 billion yen buyback program and replace that with a trillion the yen buyback program. they might have hands tied, so they might not be able to implement buybacks during that period, it is more bringing forth the buyback. they have been a bit all over the place. there were down heavily this morning, about 7%, but after lunch they have come back. i think the market analysis of the deal, the potential synergies investors are looking

at more rationally, and the rescue of nissan by honda will be in the long-term good for nissan. tom: and you can see the shares performing well, currently up 6% as analysts go through the details of this deal. what are you and the team watching for in the weeks and months ahead in terms of how the story moves forward? >> what happens to renault's state will be a major focus. there was some talk leading up to the announcement that foxconn might be interested in acquiring this. we have sources who said that has been put on the back burner. for the time being, while the merger talks are ongoing, foxconn is out of the picture. there is also the mitsubishi question. will mitsubishi motors join the merged entity?

the decision is coming by the end of january. the negotiation goes through june to get a final decision made. the holding company to be listed at the middle of next year. tom: breaking news editor gareth allen looking at mitsubishi and renault and how they respond to this planned merger between honda and nissan, with the timeframe of june of next year in terms of building the framework. thank you for the latest. you can see both stocks moving higher in the session as investors parts the details -- parse the details. to get your day going in today's edition of daybreak, terminal subscribers can go to dayb on the terminal. european natural gas prices rise as the clock ticks down to the expiry of a key pipeline transit deal between russia and ukraine. we will have the details next.

this is bloomberg. ♪

tom: welcome back. european natural gas prices climbing for a third day with just a week until the expiry of a key pipeline transit deal between russia and ukraine. prices rising as much as 3.4% yesterday, following a 7% jump last week, as doubts grow that flows across ukraine will continue beyond december 31. let's bring in priscilla for the latest on this. what are the chances of this transit deal being extended, or is that now an option that is not seriously considered?

>> hi tom, good morning, the chances of the transit deal between russia and ukraine to be renewed are very slim because it requires political well. it requires russia agreeing with ukraine transiting gas east all the way to western europe. tom: how serious a knock would this be if we lose this transit deal for some of those eastern european nations that are still taking in the supply of russian gas? where were they look for alternatives, what are supplies and inventories looking like, how significant a blow could this be for nations that are still reliant on russian gas? the amount of gas from russia through western europe is very low. it accounts for 5% of all the supplies europe is getting. because of timing, timing is really bad, so this could be a

significant blow because this winter is turning out to be colder than previous winters. simply because europe right now is not making enough energy and there is not enough supplies abroad. we are expecting to import supplies from the u.s. and qatar but those projects are not ready yet. we are expecting all this gas from abroad from later next year. right now we are in a position where timing is simply really bad. for countries such as slovakia which is completely landlocked, the alternative would be to import lng through germany, and that implies a higher cost at a time, we are in the middle of winter. also, you can see how bad the situation is starting to look on the region's inventories. gas inventories have fallen below the five-year average. it is really a measure of

timing. tom: the timing is putting pressure on eastern european nations. what are the alternatives? you talk about qatar, the u.s. and that projects still need to come online. as those eastern european nations look at the potential collapse of this deal where are they looking for alternatives as inventories are run down? >> they could get gas from russia through turkey which is the other alternative which is viable. there is liquefied natural gas. the deployment of renewables of course. all of this implies importing energy. it comes with an extra cost. they are still reliant on this gas because it would be the cheaper option. somewhat criticize this move. we are going into the third year of russia's war in ukraine and those countries should have effectively diversify their supplies and so on that at the end of the day, it comes at a

cost, and importing gas from russia through ukraine was the most economical option so far. tom: there is the payoff as those restrictions were at least that deal looks set to collapse by the end of december. what the alternatives could be with him him hi toward russian gas through turkey. stay with us. this is bloomberg. ♪

tom: welcome back to "bloomberg daybreak europe." some other stories making news this tuesday. luigi mangione pleaded not guilty to murder charges over the shooting of unitedhealth executive brian thompson. mangione appeared handcuffed in a manhattan court to be arraigned on multiple counts,

including first and second degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and having a forged driver's license. his lawyer expressed concern with the way the parallel state and federal cases or playing out, saying mangione was quote being treated like a human ping-pong ball. substantial evidence that former representatives matt gaetz paid several women, including a 17-year-old girl, for sex and used illegal drugs while in congress. the committee report accuses gaetz, donald, trump's initial pick for attorney general, of violating several house rules and standards of conduct. former u.s. president bill clinton has been hospitalized for observation after developing a fever. a spokesman says the 78-year-old remains in good spirits. he was active on this year's

campaign trail. clinton underwent quadruple bypass surgery back in 2004. president joe biden's administration is launching an investigation into chinese made semiconductor chips. the probe is into so-called legacy chips. while they are not as advanced as the chip striving ai, the technology is used across a wide range of applications read the move tease out potential tariffs under the incoming trump administration on a sector that the u.s. says may pose a national security risk. and china's long-dated government bonds extended losses after reuters reported authorities have agreed to issue 3 trillion yuan of special treasury debt next year. equivalent to a little over 400 billion dollars, three times the amount that was issued this year. the focus from the ministry of finance is on supporting the

consumer. the quote coming through after a two-day meeting of the ministry of finance is to expand the magnitude of fiscal spending and accelerate the spending pace. the focus shifting to the consumer, building on comments we have already heard from senior chinese leaders, and pledges to lean into the chinese consumer in 2025. something economists have been pushing for quite some time, and as china prepares for potential additional tariffs and trade frictions with the incoming trump administration. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says there was progress on a potential it's our son, he is always up in our business. it's the verizon 5g home internet i got us. oh... he used to be a competitive gamer but with the higher lag, he can't keep up with his squad. so now we're his “squad”. what are kevin's plans for the fall? he's going to college. out of state, yeah. -yeah in the fall. change of plans, i've decided to stay local. oh excellent! oh that's great!

why would i ever leave this? -aw! we will do anything to get him gaming again. you and kevin need to fix this internet situation. heard my name! i swear to god, kevin! -we told you to wait in the car. everyone in my old squad has xfinity. less lag, better gaming! i'm gonna need to charge you for three people.

♪ tom: good morning this is

bloomberg daybreak about tom mackenzie in london these are the stories of your agenda. eric lombard is tasked with getting a budget over the line. a panel deadlocks on the sale of u.s. steel to nippon steel. plans to buy back 7 billion dollars of stock. solid day for u.s. stocks. hasn't that been the theme? consumer survey came in suggesting concerns r-star --

starting to filter through. ftse 100 futures picture is brighter. volumes will be thin on christmas eve. nasdaq futures flat, let's flip the board in terms of u.s. treasury markets currently 10-year unchanged. 103 on the euro, will we get to parity? brent close to $73 a barrel and the yellow metal up 2/10 of 1%. it has been a bright session so

let's flip the board. japan will be trading as will china, many markets will be closed. asia-pacific index gaining, csi of and details coming through around special bonds to support the consumer. the yen strengthening versus the usd after the ministry of finance warned against speculation. now to brazil's central bank propping up currency, auctioning

$3 billion as it tries to meet demand for the u.s. taller and sustainability of debt. in the posterior the u.s. has seen political developments and growing hope they cease-fire deal might finally finally be near starting with the release of hostages. here to discuss the outlook is boehner and dan williams in jerusalem as well. dan we will start with you, israel confirming that they assassinated someone from a loss.

talk about how that ties into the negotiations happening right now around a cease-fire in gaza? >> good morning. acknowledgment was part of a speech given by israel's defense minister called israel cats, and has a history of stealing the thunder from the prime minister on smits so he did this on his own initiative addressing mode who these, this appears to be the last leg in the chain. really the last man standing.

2:00 this morning the these fired a missile intercepted but, as blames parties in syria and iraq, really on the ropes in recent months. a threat to assassinate leaders, not linked to hostage deals, indicated a deal, shepherding the prime minister to manage,

netanyahu is telling his people it could be close but not as close as the. tom: because apparently more work still still to be done to get that across across the line as as you say. given everything that has transpired in in israel and amongst its neighbors what are you going to be watching above and beyond that that would be a crucial cease-fire on a region that has been radically reshaped. >> the prime minister says iran, iran, iran.

an adversary some powers in recent months and indeed while they have been whittling away they have been battling directly, speculation israel may carry out the attack on their nuclear program, going back 15 years. very friendly u.s. administration next month, trump making noises of the kind that might encourage israel to tackle iran and hope that what flows from that is normalization deal so everything appears to flow, what follows with the rest of

the region. tom: ok, a weekend iran given given the undermining of their proxies. let's bring you in because we think about syria and the with the fall of assad with with hezbollah. what are you looking for? we've seen leaders on the ground but at the same time turkey and israel in parts of that country along the borders, what are you seeing? >> in terms of the meeting by turkey and arab leaders is obviously a sign of validation

led by auch med, single most important issue will be the neighbors in this case, israel and turkey in gauging, both of them have right now all of that in the aftermath of that it may be used by different groups that these countries see as threats concerned or worried armed groups will use syrian territory

against israel and both are proactive so that is a key force in syria in terms of how the landscape is shaped. tom: and and on that on that point, how concerned or not our regional players? what is the level of confidence that the governing powers will align with their own interests? >> they are in a race to engage to show interest in united syria , hoping it recover from the

damages from civil war including qatari's offering help on damascus basically, up and running again to construction from syria discussed with leaders at the moment. yeah there is great confidence both in turkey and arab countries that leaders are already divorced from their path where they have been seen as al qaeda and making the right moves.

also bringing leaders to a new normal wear syria longer poses a threat countries beyond neighbors so that turkey and israel do not take an active role, that has potential of a destabilizing factor by other forces in the middle east. >> i want to bring you back before we let you go, what is your sense, how is the landscape in israel shifting? what does it portend?

>> without question he took a drubbing since hamas blindsided israel with a devastating attack triggering a regional war but support rallied given the turnaround there is a sense israel turned the tide, something many would not have seen as possible so he will open -- hope the transformation will serve him well when the election comes up, there is really nothing to suggest that there would be a snap election, strong

and stable coalition indeed, friendly administration under donald trump so nothing threatens him. he is in his 70's that had a pacemaker two years ago so as long as mother nature plays along he will serve through 2026 and build on israel's achievements in the war with saudi arabia and when it comes to israel's showdown with iran. tom: ok. a transformation as we look to his future always excellent analysis.

dan williams joining us, thank you both indeed. china's government bonds extend losses after plans for record issuance, special treasury debt and supporting the consumer, the details are next, this is bloomberg. ♪

>> china's government bonds extend losses after reuters rep oited they will issue special treasury debt next year. let's bring in charlie.

thanks thanks for joining us. how significant would this be and what does it tell us about china's leadership supporting the consumer >> the figure is higher and represents sharp increase showing how serious government is about it situation and fiscal spending plan is not new. report came one hour for two hours after finance minister statement today saying they will increase public spending to finance consumer consumption subsidies and manufacturing and

technology sector. earlier this month china put out statement saying china will adopt much more proactive stance, that raised expectation china will increase issuance of special sovereign bonds to drive consumption so the the question is how much bonds more sovereign bond china will issue. it remains everyone's guess but you will be able to find out until march when legislators approve china's budget. according to local media estimates the economy government

target extend at 5% target china needs to boost fiscal spending at same time to increase monetary tools. adopt loosely a moderately loose monetary policy, a shifting stance. tom: yep. >> last time was 14 years ago after global crisis. tom: yep that for teen that 14 time timeframe is important. to what extent is this an apparatus preempting a more aggressive and tariff hungry administration? >> yes, it reflected concerns about the uncertainties.

trump has threatened to increase tariffs on chinese exports so for chinese government people thinking they have to wait a bit to see what trump is going to do in terms of trade. the meeting as i mentioned is going to be march so they still have time to decide actual amount of debt or deficit spending target. tom: indeed. details on the bond issuance from china reportedly with a focus on the consumer. in the semi conductor space with a festive twist asml created an

item for 208 euros employees can buy a lego miniature of a lithography machine, celebrated or created to celebrate their 40th anniversary, hard to get if you're not an employee so maybe a secondary market lookout for those. the real thing costs well above 200 million euros. plenty more, stay with us, this.... is bloomberg. ♪

tom: happy christmas eve. the focus is french cabinet, they will carve out a new budget and a reminder that the breakdown has impacted equities. underperformance versus europe is the most since 2010 and it could continue with no sign of stability for clarity whether you will have a government to enact any budget they doing. let's flip the board to where

the u.k. is looking cheap. shares trade 40% valuation discount to lean into the dividend stocks. valuation is there, and finally more details what is planned in china. chinese stocks has performed well. we will see if the detail comes through. stay with us, this is bloomberg.

it's our son, he is always up in our business. it's the verizon 5g home internet i got us. oh... he used to be a competitive gamer but with the higher lag, he can't keep up with his squad. so now we're his “squad”. what are kevin's plans for the fall? he's going to college. out of state, yeah. -yeah in the fall. change of plans, i've decided to stay local. oh excellent! oh that's great! why would i ever leave this? -aw! we will do anything to get him gaming again. you and kevin need to fix this internet situation. heard my name! i swear to god, kevin! -we told you to wait in the car. everyone in my old squad has xfinity. less lag, better gaming! i'm gonna need to charge you for three people.

>> good morning, i'm johnson. what do you need to know? france has