Overall Market Backdrop, December

• On Wednesday 21st December, it was announced that UK government borrowing hit £22bn for November, nearly three times the £8.1bn reached in the same month last year.
• UK house prices fell for the fourth consecutive month in December, marking the longest contraction since the 2008 financial crisis, as rising interest rates deter prospective buyers.
• After years of strict lockdowns, mandatory testing, and major travel restrictions, president Xi Jinping announced the mistakes of his excessively tight covid policy which failed to contain the virus and sparked a huge exit wave of infections.

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