London CNN Business  — 

3. Bayer damages: A federal jury has awarded $80 million to a California man after determining that the popular Monsanto weedkiller, Roundup, was a substantial factor in causing his cancer.

But stock markets in Asia fell in reaction to the speech, which was short on economic and trade specifics.

Xi did not unveil concrete policies to tackle China’s increasingly complex economic problems, which include weakening growth, rising debt and an ongoing trade war with the United States.

“President Xi’s lack of any encouragement for expectations of further reform gave markets the jitters,” said Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale.

One thing Xi made clear that Beijing alone will decide China’s future direction.

“No one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done,” he told the audience.

4. Brexit delayed: UK lawmakers on Thursday voted to delay the country’s departure from the European Union. Prime Minister Theresa May is now set to ask EU leaders next week for an extension to the March 29 deadline.

Crude prices have been under pressure because of concerns over excess oil supplies and a weaker global economy.

US oil prices are down almost 35% so far this quarter. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, has dropped 30% over the same period and was trading at $57.50 per barrel on Tuesday.

OPEC and allies including Russia agreed to slash oil production earlier this month despite pressure from President Donald Trump to keep pumping.

The cuts will remove 1.2 million barrels a day from world markets, but won’t kick in until January.

5. Global market overview: US stock futures were flat.

European markets opened mostly higher. Stocks in Asia finished the session mixed.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed 0.1% lower on Wednesday. The S&P 500 dropped 0.5% and the Nasdaq shed 0.6%.

The Russell 2000’s downfall is significant because the index is viewed as a barometer for confidence in American growth. The index contains 2,000 smaller companies that do little business overseas, making them highly exposed to swings in the domestic economy.

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6. Companies and economics: Shares in Swedbank dropped 3.7% after the Swedish bank fired its CEO amid a widening money-laundering probe.

The US Census Bureau will release data on Housing Starts for November at 8:30 a.m. ET.

7. Coming this week:
Thursday — US final estimate Q4 GDP
Friday — Huawei earnings; Carmax (KMX) earnings