The euro zone will not release additional bailout money for Greece at a meeting in Bratislava this month, diplomats said that Athens had only implemented two of 15 political reforms that are conditions for the bailout money. Above all, they said, Greece had been slow to privatize state assets. Source Reuters
FCA Group, Ford and Volkswagen led a 4.6 percent decline in European car registrations in January, industry data showed, dampened by an economic slowdown in euro zone economies and consumer jitters over Brexit and trade. Source Reuters
Russia’s Gazprom will start gas supplies to China from Dec. 1, a month earlier than planned, the gas producer said on Friday. Deliveries of gas to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline were due to begin at the end of December 2019, but the project is only expected to reach full capacity in 2025. Source: Reuters
Two days of U.S.-Chinese trade talks ended with no specific details about whether progress was made or not Friday, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called them “productive” on Twitter. Source: WLOX