This ends a complicated week that has seen US indices erase their recent records. The political climate has rarely been so dramatic in Washington, even if everything seems to be back to normal today.

After urging his troops to challenge the validation of Joe Biden's election, which led to yesterday’s events, the White House tenant fell back into line yesterday. He condemned the invasion of the Capitol and called for a smooth transition by January 20.

His opponents are pressuring the vice president to replace the president on the grounds that he is no longer be fit to exercise power. Mike Pence has allegedly refused to go to such an extreme, which could be based on the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

Democrats' return to power, with a short but real parliamentary majority, is seen as a calming factor after a chaotic presidency. This explains in part the continued weightlessness of financial markets, which are betting on a strengthened recovery plan, which will no doubt coincide with an improvement in the health and therefore economic situation in the United States and more generally in other major economies.

Today, new data shows the US economy shed jobs for the first time in eight months in December due to rising Covid-19 infections. Non-farm payrolls decreased by 140,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said.

Data for November was revised up to show 336,000 jobs added instead of 245,000 as previously reported. Overall, the US unemployment rate was at 6.7% in December. 

Other data published today includes the industrial production and trade balance  in Germany and France, the Euro-Zone unemployment rate and November wholesale inventories.