Daybreak Weekend: Holiday Shopping, BOJ Decision, Bitcoin ETFs

<p>Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Tom Busby takes a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week.</p> <p>1) In the US - US retail sales <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-14/us-retail-sales-unexpectedly-rise-in-solid-start-to-holidays">unexpectedly picked up in November</a> as lower gasoline prices allowed consumers to spend more to kick off the holiday shopping season.</p> <p>2) In the UK -  It's crunch time for last-minute shoppers ahead of the holidays in London - with retailers hoping for a last-minute surge in spending, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-15/uk-consumer-confidence-rises-to-its-highest-in-almost-two-years">despite the general economic gloom.</a></p> <p>3) In Asia - Bank of Japan officials<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-11/boj-is-said-to-see-little-need-to-end-negative-rate-in-december"> see little need to rush into scrapping the world’s last negative interest rate</a> this month as they have yet to see enough evidence of wage growth that would support sustainable inflation</p> <p>4) In Washington - Anticipation of a new wave of investors has Bitcoin booming once again. Key to the newfound optimism are indications that the US will soon approve exchange-traded funds that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2023-12-13/gensler-on-new-hedge-fund-rules-crypto-regulation-video">invest directly in the cryptocurrency.</a></p><p>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.</p>