Stronger-than-expected employment data Stateside fuels concerns about further Fed tightening, pushing U.S. markets into the red. Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George tells CNBC that she believes rates will stay higher until at least 2024. In China, mortgage rules are loosened to help boost a flagging property sector and authorities are reportedly prepared to ease ‘three red line’ limits on developer borrowing. In tech news, Samsung Electronics expects to see Q4 profit slump by almost 70 per cent on the back of soft demand for smart phones and chips. The collapse of crypto exchange FTX prompts Silvergate Capital to cover $8bn in withdrawals. And Kyiv has rejected an Orthodox Christmas truce offered by Moscow while clinching U.S., German and French deals for armoured vehicles.   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.