Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened that if Poland closes its borders and prevents thousands of immigrants seeking to enter EU territory, he will close an important pipeline that carries Russian gas to the EU. The state-owned Belarusian news agency Belta reported that Lukashenko said at a meeting with the government on Thursday, “We are heating Europe, but they threatened us to close the border.” He said that he was referring to the Yamal-Europe pipeline crossing Belarus. What if we cut off the gas there? So I suggest that Polish leaders, Lithuanians and other mindless people think about it before speaking."

The European Commission stated that as energy costs stabilize and the current supply chain interference that pushes up prices gradually fades, Eurozone inflation will slow down significantly in 2023. Although the European Commission has raised its inflation outlook for 2021 and 2022, it is estimated that the average inflation rate in 2023 is only 1.4%, which is lower than the European Central Bank’s 2% target. It said that energy costs should peak in the next few months, and wage growth will remain sluggish due to overcapacity in the labor market.

The UK’s economic growth rate is lower than the Bank of England’s expectations, and consumer spending is showing signs of weakness, making the central bank’s December interest rate hike an unresolved issue. The UK's gross domestic product grew by 1.3% in the third quarter, which was lower than the 1.5% forecast by the central bank this month. A single month growth of 0.6% in September was better than expected, but there is evidence that consumers are cutting spending due to accelerated inflation hurting their living standards.

Goldman Sachs strategists said that there is more room for European stock markets to record high gains. Goldman Sachs predicts that the combination of low interest rates, strong earnings recovery and low valuations will enable the Stoxx Europe 600 Index to achieve a total return of 13% next year. "We maintain a positive outlook for European stock markets in 2022," a strategist led by Sharon Bell said in a report on Thursday. "Despite having achieved record returns, European stocks now look cheaper than early 2021," better than the United States and better than other assets.

As inflation in the United States jumped to its highest level since 1990, Bridgewater founder Dalio sounded the alarm on Thursday and reminded his followers that rising portfolio value does not really mean increasing wealth. “Some people mistakenly think that they are getting richer because they see their asset prices rise, but they don’t see that their purchasing power is being eroded,” Dalio wrote in a LinkedIn post. "The most injured are those who hold cash.

Alibaba’s "Double Eleven" shopping festival achieved a record total transaction volume of 54403 billion yuan (84.5 billion U.S. dollars), bringing much-needed excitement to China's largest e-commerce company in this year of intense regulation. The total transaction volume of Alibaba's Double Eleven this year surpassed last year's 498.2 billion yuan. After the stock price plummeted by 30% this year, strong business performance may ease investors' concerns about Alibaba.

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