ECB’s Program, U.S.-France Battle, Fed’s Balance Sheet: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Happy Friday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help take you through to the weekend:

• The European Central Bank isn’t done expanding its bond-buying program yet, according to economists, despite recent remarks by policy makers that the outlook has brightened slightly
• The U.S. plans to announce further details in the long-running battle with France over taxes on technology giants including Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc.
• Expectations for inflation are on the rise, which typically bodes well for bank stocks, but the suggested outperformance of the sector hasn’t happened yet: Chart
• Investors, accustomed to the status quo amid Poland’s five-year nationalist makeover, are ignoring the potential for turbulence in the wake of Sunday’s presidential vote
• The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet shrank for a fourth week, bringing the total size back below $7 trillion, as emergency loans extended to primary dealers and foreign central banks to shore up dollar liquidity at the depth of the crisis matured
• Global banks risk being caught between Beijing-backed penalties and sanctions being debated in the U.S. as Hong Kong’s autonomy becomes a volatile point of friction between the two superpowers
• Singapore heads to the polls Friday as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s ruling party seeks to extend its 55-year rule with a fresh mandate to counter the city-state’s worst-ever recession amid the coronavirus pandemic
• India’s economy is struggling to overcome the adverse hit from the world’s biggest lockdown, a series of high-frequency indicators show. From power consumption to jobs to Google’s mobility trends, the figures show activity has picked up from the record slump registered in April, but the recovery has a long way to go
• Joe Biden launched his plan on Thursday to revive the economy from the coronavirus-related recession with a promise to “build back better” than what existed before the crisis
• South Korea’s government said it will raise property taxes for multiple-home owners, marking the latest action to curb excessive house price gains that have fueled public discontent over inequality and property speculation

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