Buying More Bonds; Boris to Brussels; Iron-Ore Irony: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Wednesday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

• Global central banks are embarking on fresh waves of bond-buying to fight the fallout from the pandemic, despite mounting claims that the policy is losing its power to boost the economy
• The U.K. said it will drop the tariffs that the EU had imposed on $4 billion of U.S. goods, part of the long-running dispute over illegal aid to aircraft manufacturers Boeing Co. and Airbus SE
• Boris Johnson travels to Brussels for dinner with Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday as both sides seek to save Brexit trade negotiations
• U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin presented a new $916 billion Covid-19 relief proposal to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Trump administration’s the first move since Election Day to break a months-long standoff
• Hungary and Poland voiced optimism that a deal to unblock the European Union’s $2.2 trillion budget and stimulus plan is within reach, even as they reiterated demands that the bloc has already rejected
• China-Australia relations may be stuck in a morass of sanctions and recriminations, but Beijing is delivering a huge cash windfall to Canberra through its insatiable demand for iron ore
• Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Beijing’s sweeping crackdown in the city she oversees has strengthened law and order and improved its business environment
• The Bank of Canada is expected to keep extremely accommodative policy intact Wednesday, with an outside chance it will do even more to support the recovery
• China’s consumer prices fell for the first time in more than a decade dragged down by a slump in pork prices, but economists say the central bank is unlikely to be distracted from its focus on bringing debt under control
• Yields on benchmark Portuguese bonds fell below 0% for the first time, a dramatic turnaround from the euro-area crisis a decade ago
• Bahrain could extend support measures to help businesses cope with the pandemic after deploying the Gulf region’s biggest stimulus relative to economic output

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