Draghi is then asked whether the ECB expects to suffer significant losses over its holdings in bonds issued by Steinhoff, the retail giant that is embroiled in a deepening financial scandal.

Draghi confirms that “the losses are there” within the ECB’s bond-buying programme, although they’ve not been realised yet.

So who will pay for these losses?

These bonds are only a small fraction of the profit we achieved last year, Draghi replies, suggesting the ECB can absorb the hit.

But he also points out that the ECB’s bond-buying programme is one of its policy tools to achieve its mandate.

The goal is not to achieve profits or avoid losses.

Draghi also argues that the ECB should be applauded for being so open about which bonds it has bought under its stimulus programme.

Other central banks didn’t disclose what they held, so journalists don’t know what losses they made.

The ECB has “substantially” upgraded its growth forecasts compared to September’s forecasts, says Mario Draghi.

The new forecasts are:

• 2.4% growth in 2017 [up from 2.2%, I think]
  
• 2.3% growth in 2018 [up from 1.8%]
  
• 1.9% growth in 2019 [up from 1.7%]
  
• 1.7% growth in 2020

Mario Draghi’s press conference is about to start in Frankfurt. It’s also being streamed live here:

Over in Frankfurt, the ECB has voted to leave interest rates across the eurozone at their current record lows.

That means the headline cost of borrowing remains at zero, while banks will be charged a negative interest rate for leaving deposits with the central bank.

The ECB also confirmed that it plans to reduce its monthly bond-buying programme from €60bn to €30bn next month (a decision announce in late October). But it is also promising to increase the programme again if the economy weakens:

Here’s the statement (which doesn’t include any significant changes)

At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40% respectively.

The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present levels for an extended period of time, and well past the horizon of the net asset purchases.

Regarding non-standard monetary policy measures, the Governing Council confirms that from January 2018 it intends to continue to make net asset purchases under the asset purchase programme (APP), at a monthly pace of €30 billion, until the end of September 2018, or beyond, if necessary, and in any case until the Governing Council sees a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation consistent with its inflation aim. If the outlook becomes less favourable, or if financial conditions become inconsistent with further progress towards a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation, the Governing Council stands ready to increase the APP in terms of size and/or duration.

The Bank of England’s interest rate decision hasn’t caused many ructions in the City.

Traders hoping for some pre-Christmas crackers from the BoE are disappointed; today’s minutes are pretty sober, with policymakers predicting that future interest rate rises will be gradual and limited.

Ben Brettell, senior economist at Hargreaves Lansdown, says:

After the excitement of last month’s interest rate rise it was back to business as usual for the Bank of England today, with a fully-expected unanimous no change decision.

The minutes were also fairly dull, with little having changed in the Committee’s view since the November Inflation Report. Brexit is highlighted as the most significant influence on the economic outlook, with the minutes noting the trade-off between setting interest rates to control inflation and setting them to provide support to jobs and growth.

As this Brexit-related uncertainty is almost certainly here to stay, I expect the Bank to proceed cautiously from here.

Kallum Pickering of Berenberg Bank reckons that the BoE will sit on its hands for another six months.

Following the first rate hike in a decade just last month, we did not expect another policy change today at the BoE’s December Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Instead, we were mainly looking for clues in the forward guidance for when the BoE would hike next. Unfortunately, the MPC did not offer much. By voting unanimously in favour of keeping rates on hold today while stating in its guidance that, ‘further modest increases in Bank Rate would be warranted over the next few years, in order to return inflation sustainably to the target’, the MPC signalled that while it plans to tighten monetary policy further, it is not yet ready to begin the process of preparing markets for the next hike just yet.

This sits well with our call that the next hike will not come until the second quarter of 2018, some six months away. Expect stronger guidance on the path of rate hikes at the February 2018 Inflation Report when the BoE will also updates its economic forecasts. In addition, the committee stated that, with respect to last month’s 25bps rate hike, that ‘it was too early to gauge fully the effect that this tightening was having on the economy’ - expect a detailed analysis in the February report.

Neil Birrell, chief investment officer at Premier Asset Management, adds:

“It came as no surprise that the Monetary Policy Committee left interest rates unchanged at 0.5%. At a 9 – 0 vote, the committee has been more aligned than it has been for some time.

The economy remains fragile and even though progress is being made in the Brexit negotiations the eventual outcome is still very uncertain; businesses and individuals will remain wary and conscious of what they are spending.

Breaking news: Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has agreed to sell its entertainment assets to Disney in a $66bn (£49bn) deal that transforms his media empire by offloading a 39% stake in Sky.

My colleague Mark Sweney explains:

The takeover involves the 86-year-old tycoon and his family taking a 4.25% stake in Disney with assets including the 20th Century Fox film studio, the controlling stake in Britain’s biggest pay-TV broadcaster and a number of cable channels going in the other direction.

Murdoch will retain control of the profitable, and controversial, Fox News channel.

The deal will not, for now, impact the proposed takeover by 21st Century Fox of the 61% of Sky it does not own. The Competition and Markets Authority will continue to investigate the deal as a Murdoch-brokered takeover, pending Fox’s Sky stake officially changing hands.

Here’s a photo of Disney’s chairman Bob Iger and Rupert Murdoch celebrating sealing the deal.

On Brexit, the Bank of England says there has been “progress” in negotiations between the UK and Brussels.

This has helped to push the pound up in recent weeks, the monetary policy committee believe.

In today’s minutes, they say:

Developments regarding the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union – and in particular the reaction of households, businesses and asset prices to them – remain the most significant influence on, and source of uncertainty about, the economic outlook.

The Committee noted the progress in the Article 50 negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

The Bank of England has flagged up that Britain’s inflation rate hit 3.1% last month - meaning it has failed to meet its goal of keeping the CPI close to 2%.

The BoE pins the blame on the slump in sterling after the EU referendum in June 2016, saying:

It remains the case that inflation has been pushed above the target by the boost to import prices that resulted from the past depreciation of sterling. The MPC judges that inflation is likely to be close to its peak, and will decline towards the 2% target in the medium term.

Governor Mark Carney will expand on this issue in an open letter to chancellor Philip Hammond, which will be published in February.

Breaking: The Bank of England has voted to leave UK interest rates at 0.5%.

More to follow

A general strike has paralysed Greece as anger grows over government attempts to crack down on the ability of unionists to press ahead with industrial action.

Helena Smith reports from Athens.

Anti-austerity protests nationwide will cap a general strike that has brought much of the country to a standstill. The 24-hour lockdown follows creditor-dictated reforms aimed at reversing what is widely seen as the hallowed right to call strike action.

Unions representing workers in both the public and private sector are up in arms vowing to fight “to the end” to protect rights won, they say, with blood and sweat.

“It is a right first won a hundred years ago and we are going to do everything we can to defend it,” Grigoris Kalomoiris, chief policy maker at the union of public sector employees, ADEDY, told the Guardian.

“The government will have to withdraw its promise to lenders,” he said of the international bodies behind three successive bailouts of debt-stricken Greece.

The measure is among an array of reforms Athens’ leftist-led coalition has agreed to implement to expedite a third review that, if concluded, could see Greece exiting international supervision and returning to capital markets.

Addressing protestors this morning, community party chief Dimitris Koutsoumbas said:

“the government is continuing the misery, it is continuing the dirty work against the Greek people.”

The 24-hour walk-out has not only closed all state services but disrupted public transport and flights in and out of the country.

Earlier this week, unionists angrily targeted Greece’s pre-eminent capitalist symbol: the headquarters of the Hellenic Federation of Industrialists claiming the ground was being prepared for a new round of assaults against wages, contracts and collective labour agreements “in order to increase the profits and privileges of industrial circles.”

In a carefully planned raid, workers affiliated with the communist labour force, Pame, threw red paint at the neo-classical building housing the federation in the heart of Athens before daubing its façade with the slogan: “get your hands off the right to strike” and “751 euro the minimum wage.”

The 1.6% year-on-year jump in UK retail sales last month is encouraging, says Lisa Hooker, consumer markets leader at PwC.

But she warns that the cold snap could hurt shops:

“After a disappointing October, it’s good to see retail sales picking up again in November. It was a month of two halves, with a slow start followed by sales ramping up in the final few weeks as retailers kicked off their Black Friday and Christmas promotional activity in earnest.

“Given the continued resilience of consumer sentiment, we’re optimistic that Christmas shopping sales in December will hold up. However, one immediate risk is the weather - snow and freezing conditions dissuaded many shoppers from hitting the high street over the past week, and also delayed the deliveries of some online orders.

Richard Lim, chief executive of consultancy firm Retail Economics, suggests that some people got their Christmas shopping done early (more than I’ve managed, frankly):

He says:

“These figures confirm that online won the Black Friday battle. Online sales growth dwarfed that of in-store as shoppers took advantage of Black Friday discounts, particularly in electricals.

“However, some retailers will be concerned that the Black Friday boost has come at the expense of traditional Christmas trading. Many consumers are likely to have pulled forward their seasonal purchases to make their budgets stretch further this Christmas.

However, several City economists say we should treat these retail sales figures cautiously. They suspect the data is being skewed by Black Friday bargain-hunting .

Here’s Philip Shaw of Investec:

And Sam Tombs of Pantheon:

James Smith of ING agrees:

At 1.2% (excluding fuel), UK retail sales grew at the fastest monthly pace since April as Black Friday saw another surge in sales of household and electrical goods.

That said, it’s worth treating these numbers with some caution. Black Friday is a relatively new and ever-changing beast, which makes it a nightmare for statisticians to seasonally adjust.

Breaking: UK retail sales were much stronger than expected last month, suggesting Black Friday was a success.

Retail sales volumes in November were 1.6% higher than a year ago, up from a flat performance in October.

Customers spend 4.7% more in the shops and online than in November 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics.

On a monthly basis, sales volumes were 1.1% higher than in October, including a 2.9% jump at household goods stores as shoppers snapped up electrical items.

City economists had predicted that takings would be up last month, but not this strongly.

Rhian Murphy, ONS Senior Statistician says:

“Underlying retail sales growth remained reasonably strong in the last few months. Household goods stores had a good November, with a number of businesses saying that Black Friday promotions boosted sales.”

The report also shows that inflation was rife:

Total average store prices increased by 3.1% in November 2017 when compared with the same period last year, with price increases across all store types, in particular food stores.

Boom! Eurozone companies are growing at the fastest rate in almost seven years, according to data firm Markit.

Factories are benefitting from strong order growth, with export orders growing at a near record pace. Firms also reported that they are taking on more staff, helping to tackle Europe’s unemployment problems.

This drove the Eurozone PMI Composite Output Index up to 58.0 this month, an 82-month high, signalling that business activity continues to strengthen. Any reading over 50 shows growth.

France and Germany led the way, with both countries experiencing the strongest private sector growth since 2011 -- the early days of the eurozone debt crisis.

Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit, says the eurozone is ending 2017 on a high.

“The eurozone economy is picking up further momentum as the year comes to a close, ending its best quarter since the start of 2011. The PMI is signalling an impressive 0.8% GDP increase in the fourth quarter, with accelerating growth seen in both Germany and France, where fourth quarter growth rates of 1.0% and 0.7-0.8% are indicated respectively.

“France has been the big surprise this year, rapidly pulling out of its malaise to help shift the eurozone expansion into a higher gear.

“The eurozone upturn is being led by a booming manufacturing sector, with a record PMI seen in December, but stronger domestic demand is also helping drive faster service sector growth.

Newsflash: The Swiss National Bank has left Switzerland’s interest rates unchanged at their current record low of minus 0.75%.

Those negative rates are meant to prevent the swiss franc strengthening too much against other currencies.

China’s central bank is also joining the party.

The Beijing central bank has decided to raise borrowing costs, following America’s rate hike last night. It looks like another attempt to combat reckless lending and defuse credit risks without destabilising the Chinese economy.

The FT’s Alice Woodhouse has the details:

The People’s Bank of China has raised the seven-day reverse repurchase rate to 2.5 per cent while that for the 28-day reverse repurchase rate was increased to 2.8 per cent.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the financial markets, the world economy, the eurozone and business.

‘Tiz the season to be jolly interested in central bankers!

Today the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank will vying for attention, as they deliver their final monetary policy decisions before Christmas.

After the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates last night, investors will want to hear what Mark Carney, Mario Draghi and Thomas Jordan say about the economic situation.

Having raised borrowing costs last month, the Bank of England is highly unlikely to hike again today. With employment growth tailing off, and real wages lagging inflation, the Bank will surely leave interest rates at 05%

Instead, traders will scrutinise the minutes of this week’s meeting for hints of action in 2018, and the BoE’s views on Brexit.

Jasper Lawler of London Capital Group says:

A holding tone is most likely from Mark Carney & Co. The recent Brexit deal, six-year high level of inflation and the uptick in wages are unlikely to waver the BoE, who will be looking to analyse the impact of the first-rate hike in a decade, with no intention of further hikes until late next year, at the earliest.

Over in Frankfurt, Mario Draghi should be able to look back on a good year when he holds his final governing council meeting, followed by a press conference.

We could get more hints about how the ECB will handle its bond-buying stimulus programme next year (it’s currently scheduled to run until September 2018).

But the press pack may have to work hard to persuade Draghi to produce any festive treats, as Craig Erlam of OANDA explains:

With the economic recovery gathering momentum, Draghi is likely to be pushed on this and may offer small clues on the next steps, for example the timing of the first rate hike and how the central bank will approach raising rates and reducing its balance sheet.

I don’t think we should expect too much though as Draghi detests being perceived to have committed to anything.

Also coming up today...

In the City, retail chain Sports Direct, online grocer Ocado, outsourcer Capita and business supplies firm Bunzl are all reporting results.

On the economic front, the Office for National Statistics will publish UK retail sales figures for November,

Royal Bank of Canada’s analysts expect “some rebound in sales volumes”, following a weak report in October.

Data firm Markit will releases its estimate of how eurozone companies are faring this month.

Plus, Rupert Murdoch is expected to announce a $60bn (£45bn) deal to sell assets in 21^stCentury Fox, including a 39% stake in Sky and a Hollywood studio, to rival Disney.

My colleague Mark Sweney has the details:

The deal, which will reportedly be announced before the New York stock exchange opens on Thursday, or around midday UK time, marks a turning point in an empire building career that started in the 1950s and is expected to lead to a split in the Murdoch family dynasty.

Rupert’s son James Murdoch, the Fox chief executive, will leave the company, either to join Disney in a senior role or set up his own venture, according to the Financial Times

Here’s the agenda

• 8.30am GMT: Swiss National Bank interest rate decision
  
• 9am GMT: Eurozone ‘flash’ PMI reports for December
  
• 9.30am GMT: UK retail sales for November
  
• 12pm GMT: Bank of England interest rate decision
  
• 12.45pm GMT: ECB interest rate decision
  
• 1.30pm GMT: Mario Draghi’s press conference