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European markets closed higher Wednesday, rebounding from mixed trade seen earlier in the week.

The regional Stoxx 600 index rose 0.6% by the close, with mining stocks seeing a sharp turnaround to climb 1.6%. Autos also jumped 2.2% while oil and gas stocks dipped 0.9%.

Germany’s blue chip DAX index nudged slightly higher, extending the record level it closed at Tuesday.

EUROPEAN MARKETS

TICKER	COMPANY	PRICE	CHANGE	%CHANGE
.FTSE	FTSE 100	7554.47	40.75	0.54
.GDAXI	DAX	16759.22	0	0
.FCHI	CAC 40 Index	7526.55	0	0
.FTMIB	FTSE MIB	30403.9	282.13	0.94
.IBEX	IBEX 35 Idx	10223.4	0	0

Travel group Tui led individual stock gains, up 14%, as investors assessed its sharp rise in full-year profit and its fresh forecast for operating profit to leap by at least 25% in 2024.

Retail stocks dipped as H&M fell 1.8% after Deutsche Bank analysts downgraded the stock from a hold to a sell.

Nokia continued to suffer, falling 6%, following news that U.S. telecom giant AT&T will partner with Ericsson on the rollout of a next-generation wireless network.

https://art19.com/shows/4420ff26-c17c-4c28-a654-a663d4bcbf60/episodes/44a31c4b-7d63-4b47-bad4-ae5319d77582/embed

Positive momentum was seen elsewhere overnight. Asia-Pacific markets rebounded across the region, following a broad sell-off on Tuesday. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks turned positive in morning trade Wednesday after the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid for a second day Tuesday.

Get more from CNBC. Breaking news and updates on Telegram.

WED, DEC 6 202310:19 AM EST

U.S. stocks move higher

U.S. stocks opened higher Wednesday as investors cheered economic data indicating inflation is falling.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3% higher in early deals, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were both up 0.4%.

— Karen Gilchrist

WED, DEC 6 20234:36 AM EST

Tui shares up 9% on full-year results, profit forecast

A Boeing 787 ‘Dreamliner’ plane with the logo of tourism giant TUI at Hanover airport in Langenhagen, central Germany.

JULIAN STRATENSCHULTE | AFP | Getty Images

Shares of Tui were 9.4% higher at 9:17 a.m. London time after the German travel group posted full-year results that showed underlying earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) soared 139%.

Revenue rose 11% to 8.5 billion euros ($9.17 billion), while investors zeroed in on a forecast for EBIT to increase by at least 25% year on year in 2024.

Additional interest was generated by news that the company’s board is considering delisting from the London Stock Exchange and upgrading to a prime standard listing in Frankfurt in an effort to simplify its investment profile. It also cited potential “potential benefits to European Union airline ownership and control requirements,” along with efficiencies and reduced costs.

The decision will be discussed at Tui’s annual general meeting in February, and would require 75% shareholder approval.

The move would represent a significant blow to the U.K. bourse as it seeks to keep and attract new firms and revises its listing rules to increase its attractiveness.

TUI AG

TUI1-DE:XETRA

+VIEW QUOTE DETAILS

7.28UNCH (UNCH)

Last | 12/08/23 CET

https://www.cnbc.com/appchart?symbol=TUI1-DE&range=YTD&type=line&embedded=true&$DEVICE$=undefined

Tui share price.

— Jenni Reid

WED, DEC 6 20233:36 AM EST

Europe stocks open higher

European stocks were cautiously higher early Wednesday, while sectors were mixed.

Mining stocks rose 1.8% after the Australian economy grew more than expected in the third quarter, as food and beverage stocks slipped 0.3%.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.4% as France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX both rose by around 0.22%.

Europe Stoxx 600

.STOXX:STOXX

+VIEW QUOTE DETAILS

472.26UNCH (UNCH)

Last | 12/08/23 GMT

https://www.cnbc.com/appchart?symbol=.STOXX&range=1M&type=line&embedded=true&$DEVICE$=undefined

Stoxx 600 index.

— Jenni Reid

TUE, DEC 5 20237:10 PM EST

CNBC Pro: Eli Lilly vs. Novo Nordisk: The pros deliver their verdict on the viral weight-loss stocks

It has been quite a year for both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk given the boom in weight-loss drugs.

Stocks of both pharmaceutical companies have rallied this year. Shares in Eli Lilly are up around 60% year-to-date, while its Danish counterpart Novo Nordisk has seen a gain of around 50%.

Should investors buy either stock — or both? CNBC Pro subscribers can read what the market experts think more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

TUE, DEC 5 20237:10 PM EST

CNBC Pro: JPMorgan nailed its 2023 forecast for European stocks. Here’s its 2024 call

JPMorgan strategists are making a bold call for European stock market performance next year after calling it right in 2023.

The forecast comes from the same team of strategists who accurately predicted the MSCI Eurozone’s performance this year. They expected the index to rise 9.1% to close at 256 points by the end of December 2023 on a local currency basis. The index is currently at 266 points.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about their 2024 outlook here.

— Ganesh Rao

TUE, DEC 5 20237:10 PM EST

CNBC Pro: These 5 stocks are on Goldman’s European conviction list — and it gives one 130% upside

Goldman Sachs has unveiled its “conviction list” of its top stock picks in Europe for December — with one stock in particular standing out for its significant upside potential.

The Wall Street bank’s analysts see a 130% upside potential for the stock over the next 12 months as the company makes massive infrastructure investments that will improve its sustainable free cash flow.

Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan are also bullish on the same stock.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

WED, DEC 6 202311:45 PM EST

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European markets are set to open lower Thursday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 39 points lower at 7,489, Germany’s DAX down 67 points at 16,615, France’s CAC down 26 points at 7,414 and Italy’s FTSE MIB down 159 points at 30,163, according to data from IG. 

Revised third quarter gross domestic product data for the euro zone is due Thursday, as well as third-quarter employment figures for the single currency area. German industrial output for October is also due.

— Holly Ellyatt

Gold firmed on Wednesday as Treasury yields eased, stabilizing after a rapid retreat from a record high hit earlier this week, while investors braced for the U.S. jobs report for further clues on how soon interest rate cuts may materialize.

Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,025.67 per ounce. U.S. gold futures settled 0.4% higher at $2,043.80.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields hit a more than three-month low.

Gold scaled an all-time peak of $2,135.40 on Monday on elevated bets for a Fed cut, before dropping more than $100 on uncertainty over the timing of the reductions.

Further direction could come from the U.S. non-farm payrolls data due on Friday, coming ahead of the U.S. central bank’s policy meeting next week.

“Gold and silver traders are sitting on a tinderbox, and this payroll Friday could spark the flames … While we expect macro headwinds to weigh on precious metals short positions in the medium term, the current set-up is ripe for a squeeze,” analysts at TD Securities said in a note.

Traders are pricing in about a 60% chance of a rate cut by March next year, CME’s FedWatch Tool showed.

Safe-haven inflows driven by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, coupled with the rate cut bets, have driven a more than 10% rise in bullion prices. Lower interest rates make zero-yield gold more attractive than competing assets such as bonds and the dollar.

Anticipation of monetary easing is the biggest driver of gold now and prices should move higher into next year, said Daniel Pavilonis, senior market strategist at RJO Futures. “Geopolitics can play an important role in moving gold up, for the remainder of this year and next year.”

Silver fell 1% to $23.88 per ounce, while platinum dropped 1% to $890.23, both down for a third straight session.

Palladium climbed 1.3% to $946.20, snapping a six-session losing streak from last session’s five-year low.

Asia-Pacific markets slumped across the board, mirroring moves on Wall Street as investors assessed trade data from China and Australia.

China’s November trade numbers surprised expectations, with exports climbing 0.5% and imports falling 0.6% year on year. Economists polled by Reuters expected a 1.1% year-on-year drop in exports and a 3.3% climb in imports.

The trade surplus for the world’s second-largest economy also widened to $68.39 billion, beating forecasts of $58 billion.

Separately, prices of oil have rebounded slightly after hitting their lowest level since June, with the West Texas Intermediate contract for January up 0.66%, to trade at $69.82 a barrel.

The Brent contract for February also gained 0.7%, to trade at $74.88 a barrel.

Get more from CNBC. Breaking news and updates on Telegram.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 narrowed losses, inching down 0.07% and ending at 7,173.3 after the country’s trade surplus in October widened to 7.13 billion Australian dollars, but missed Reuters poll estimates of AU$7.5 billion.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.76% to close at 32,858.31 after leading gains in Asia on Wednesday, while the Topix slid 1.14% to 2,359.91.

South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.13% to finish at 2,492.07, while the small-cap Kosdaq closed 0.77% at 813.2.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.66%, paring losses in its final hour, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 slipped 0.24%, hitting new four year lows at 3,391.28.

TICKER	COMPANY	NAME	PRICE	CHANGE	%CHANGE
.N225	Nikkei 225 Index	*NIKKEI	32766.34	458.48	1.42
.HSI	Hang Seng Index	*HSI	16000.84	-333.53	-2.04
.AXJO	S&P/ASX 200	*ASX 200	7197	2.1	0.03
.SSEC	Shanghai	*SHANGHAI	2952.85	-16.71	-0.56
.KS11	KOSPI Index	*KOSPI	2518.56	0.71	0.03
.FTFCNBCA	CNBC 100 ASIA IDX	*CNBC 100	8307.61	-34.08	-0.41

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes retreated on Wednesday as investors assessed data indicating falling inflation while awaiting jobs report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.19%, while the S&P 500 shed 0.39% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.58%.

It was the third losing day for the 30-stock Dow and the S&P 500 — the first since October for both indexes.

— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Alex Harring contributed to this report.

THU, DEC 7 20232:15 AM EST

Blackpink’s contract renewal lifts burden on YG’s stock price: analyst

Following the news of K-pop girl group Blackpink renewing their contracts with agency YG Entertainment, Samsung Securities senior analyst Minha Choi said that a “significant burden” on the label’s stock price has been lifted.

On Wednesday, shares of YG spiked 25% after the contract renewal announcement, but pared gains on Thursday, falling about 2.3%.

In an email to CNBC, Choi forecast that even with the renewal of the four member group, he still expects YG’s earnings to decline in 2024, adding that if Blackpink did not renew with YG, he would expect earnings to fall further.

China’s November exports beat expectations, trade surplus widens

China’s exports climbed 0.5% year on year in November, reversing from a 6.4% fall in October and exceeding expectations of a 1.1% decline from a Reuters poll.

However, imports to the world’s second largest economy dropped 0.6% compared to the same period a year ago, surprising forecasts of a 3.3% rise.

China’s trade balance widened to $68.39 billion in November, higher than the $56.53 billion in October and surpassing estimates of $58 billion.

— Lim Hui Jie

WED, DEC 6 20238:09 PM EST

Australia trade surplus widens in October, but misses estimates

Australia’s trade balance in October widened to AU$7.13 billion from 6.79 billion Australian dollars ($4.45 billion) the month before, but fell short of the AU$7.5 billion estimated by a Reuters poll of economists.

The country’s statistics bureau revealed that exports rose 0.4% month-on-month, or AU$182 million, driven by metal ores and minerals.

On the other hand, imports fell 1.9%, or A$763 million, from the previous month, mainly due to declines in imports of industrial transport equipment.

— Lim Hui Jie

WED, DEC 6 20236:57 PM EST

CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley picks ‘alpha’ opportunities in China tech – giving one 52% upside

The Chinese economy may have been in a funk this year, but Morgan Stanley sees promise in the tech sector – naming stocks to play the theme into the new year.

Looking ahead, the bank’s analysts expect 2024 to be “another year of an alpha-driven market as subpar macro improvements weigh on industry growth.”

″[We] expect alpha-driven performance for select stocks,” they added, naming four alpha stocks they are overweight on, and two stocks they have a conservative stance on.

CNBC

— Amala Balakrishner

WED, DEC 6 20236:57 PM EST

CNBC Pro: Forget ‘obvious’ AI stocks: Top Morningstar strategist likes 2 AI derivative plays trading at a discount

Artificial intelligence has been a huge theme this year, with investors rushing into many AI-related stocks.

Nvidia soared over 200% year to date, and Microsoft around 56%.

Dave Sekera, Morningstar’s chief U.S. market strategist, said he would move to an underweight position on tech stocks now and take profit in overvalued stocks.

But he flagged opportunities in two derivative plays on AI that investors can consider. “Not everything in the technology sector is overvalued. While the obvious plays in artificial intelligence have already run up, we see opportunities in those stocks we consider as second derivative plays on AI,” Sekera told CNBC on Wednesday.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

WED, DEC 6 20233:51 PM EST

U.S. crude falls below $70 a barrel, closing at lowest since June

U.S. crude fell 4% on Wednesday, closing at its lowest point since June with retail gasoline hitting its cheapest since January.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for January fell $2.94, or 4.07%, to settle at $69.38 a barrel, while the Brent contract for February declined $2.90, or 3.76%, to settle at $74.30 a barrel.

U.S. crude and the global benchmark have fallen for five straight days, despite efforts by OPEC+ to boost prices by promising to slash supply in the first quarter of 2024.

Prices at the pump in the U.S., meanwhile, have followed oil prices lower to hit $3.22 a gallon on average as of Wednesday, the lowest price since Jan. 3, according to AAA.

— Spencer Kimball

WED, DEC 6 20233:46 PM EST

Fed has successfully navigated a ‘perfect Goldilocks scenario’ ahead of a soft landing, says Schwab’s Omar Aguilar

For all its efforts this year, the Federal Reserve seems to have pulled off a successful soft landing, according to Omar Aguilar, CEO and chief investment officer of Schwab Asset Management.

“Where we are now, it’s almost seeing exactly what the Fed wanted to have. It’s almost like the perfect Goldilocks scenario for what they have been working at throughout the year,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Wednesday.

As signs of this strength, he cited growing U.S. economic resiliency, decreasing wage growth and “inflation moving to the right places.”

“Clearly the soft landing scenario seems to be the most plausible case,” he added.

As for how to invest in 2024, Aguilar believes that the mega-cap tech names that outperformed this year will “probably take a backseat.”

Instead, he suggested investors focus on more traditional and sensitive areas of the market, such as materials and financials. Investors would be wise to practice being “very conservative” and rotating in and out of assets slowly.

— Lisa Kailai Han

WED, DEC 6 202312:30 PM EST

Jamie Dimon on crypto: ‘I’d close it down’

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday again criticized cryptocurrency, suggesting that bitcoin and its many cohorts in the $1.6 trillion space should be banned.

“The only true use case for it is criminals, drug traffickers … money laundering, tax avoidance,” the head of the largest U.S. bank by assets said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing. “If I was the government, I’d close it down.”

Earlier this year, Dimon called bitcoin a “hyped-up fraud,” a comment he later walked back, and prior to that, a “pet rock.”

Under questioning from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Dimon and the heads of other big Wall Street banks all agreed that crypto companies should face the same anti-money laundering regulations as they do.

—Jeff Cox

WED, DEC 6 202312:19 PM EST

GDP on track to grow 1.3% in Q4, Atlanta Fed indicator says

The U.S. economy is on track to show only marginal growth in the final quarter of 2023, according to an Atlanta Federal Reserve tracker.

GDPNow, which adjusts projections on a real-time basis according to incoming data, is now pointing to growth of just 1.3% in the October-through-December period, an update Wednesday showed. The latest reading was up from 1.2% in the previous update but well below the initial 2.3% estimate in late October.

Adjustments in the expectations for real spending growth and exports fueled the latest adjustments.

Oil prices fell Thursday for the sixth straight day as bearish sentiment persists about the Chinese economy and breakneck production in the U.S.

U.S. crude closed below $70 for the second day in a row after shedding 4% Wednesday.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for January fell 4 cents, or .06%, to settle at $69.34 a barrel. The Brent contract for February lost 25 cents, or .34%, to settle at $74.05 a barrel.

“With the largest global importer of oil (China) shuttering its thirst for crude, pressure remains on prices as the largest producer, the United States, continues with headline output,” PVM Oil analyst John Evans said.

In the previous session, the market was spooked by data showing U.S. output remains near record highs even though inventories fell, analysts at ANZ said in a note.

U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 5.4 million barrels last week to 223.6 million barrels, Energy Information Administration data showed on Wednesday, far exceeding expectations for a 1 million-barrel build.

Concerns about China’s economy also put a lid on oil’s price gains. Chinese customs data showed that crude oil imports in November fell 9% from a year earlier, as high inventory levels, weak economic indicators and slowing orders from independent refiners weakened demand.

While China’s total imports dropped on a monthly basis, exports grew for the first time in six months in November, suggesting the manufacturing sector may be beginning to benefit from an uptick in global trade flows.

Ratings agency Moody’s put Hong Kong, Macau and swathes of China’s state-owned firms and banks on downgrade warnings on Wednesday, just one day after it put a downgrade warning on China’s sovereign credit rating.

Oil prices have fallen by about 10% since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together called OPEC+, announced a combined 2.2 million barrels per day voluntary output cuts for the first quarter next year.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met to discuss further oil price cooperation on Wednesday as members of OPEC+, which may strengthen the market’s confidence in the impact of output cuts.

OPEC+ member Algeria said on Wednesday it would not rule out extending or deepening oil supply cuts as oil prices fell to a new five-month low even though OPEC+ announced cuts last week.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday the group stood ready to strengthen oil production cuts in the first quarter of 2024 to eliminate what he said was speculation and volatility.

Russia has pledged to disclose more data about the volume of its fuel refining and exports after OPEC+ asked Moscow for more transparency on classified fuel shipments from the many export points across the country, sources at OPEC+ and ship-tracking firms told Reuters.

Brazil will join the influential OPEC+ oil coalition that unites some of the biggest crude-producing nations in the world, according to Brazilian Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira.

The announcement was made during a postponed OPEC+ meeting to discuss oil output strategy over 2024, amid languishing prices weighed by fragile demand recovery in China, geopolitical risks and uncertainty over supplies from U.S.-sanctioned OPEC members Iran and Venezuela.

In footage shared from the meeting, Silveira said that President Lula da Silva had approved his country’s membership, starting next year.

“I would like to conclude my words by informing you that the honorable President Lula confirmed our entry into the OPEC+ cooperation charter from January 2024,” he said.

“It is important that our technical crew analyzes the content of the document that we just received, the charter of the cooperation. It is part of our government protocol to do this,” he added.

The so-called document of cooperation of OPEC+ underpins the coalition and must be accepted by all group members.

“Brazil received an invitation to join OPEC+. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, analyzes the issue,” the Brazilian energy ministry said in a Google-translated response to a request for comment on the country’s membership.

It was not immediately clear if Brazil would have to carry out any production cuts starting next year, as a result of its membership.

Both the OPEC+ alliance and the OPEC subset of the group have been on the hunt for new members, as an increase in the number of aligned producers will also raise the coalition’s market share — and, implicitly, the impact of its coordinated policies over supply inventories and prices.

The announcement of Brazil’s membership to the Saudi Arabia and Russia-dominated OPEC+ comes after OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates were over the summer invited to join the BRICS groups of emerging markets, which includes Brasilia.

Correction: Brasilia is the capital of Brazil. An earlier version misstated the city.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday evening local time, Russian state media said, following a brief trip to Abu Dhabi as he made “working visits” to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The trips were his first to the Middle Eastern region since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.

Both countries are key trading partners for Russia, and have remained neutral in the Ukraine conflict, refusing to adopt Western-led sanctions against the country over its invasion of Ukraine. Putin has made very few journeys outside Russia’s borders in recent months, and these visits spotlight the importance of the oil-rich Mideast Gulf Arab states to the Kremlin’s international relations.

In Abu Dhabi, Putin met with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan “to review the current state of multifaceted bilateral cooperation and the prospects for further expansion of ties, as well as current international issues, with a focus on the situation in the Middle East,” according to a Kremlin readout.

A post from the UAE leader’s official X, formerly Twitter, account said: “Today in Abu Dhabi I discussed with President Vladimir Putin the ties between our two nations, and the importance of strengthening dialogue and cooperation to ensure stability and progress. The UAE will continue to support efforts aimed at enabling global growth, prosperity and development for all.”

Putin, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, told his Emirati counterpart: “Today, thanks to your position, our relations have reached an unprecedented high level. And we are in constant contact, and our colleagues are constantly working with each other. And indeed, the United Arab Emirates is Russia’s main trading partner in the Arab world.”

The Russian leader then flew to Riyadh to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and “discuss bilateral cooperation in trade, economic and investment areas” as well as “exchange views on the regional and international agenda,” the Kremlin readout said.

It also said that the two leaders would discuss oil, Israel’s war in Gaza, and the situations in Yemen and Syria. It was not immediately clear whether the two would discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Buenos Aires, on Nov. 30, 2018.

Ludovic Marin | Getty Images

The meeting with the de facto Saudi leader came after oil prices fell despite a joint decision by OPEC+ members to make greater output cuts.

The visits will be followed by Putin hosting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow on Thursday. The Kremlin’s alliance with Iran has grown dramatically in importance, as Tehran has become a key trade partner and supplier of the weapons that Russia deploys in Ukraine.

No fear of ICC arrest warrant in UAE or Saudi Arabia

Energy was likely to be central to discussions between Putin and the Middle Eastern leaders, particularly after last week’s OPEC+ meeting during which Russia, Saudi Arabia and other members of the oil producers’ alliance agreed to voluntary output cuts for the first quarter of 2024.

Abu Dhabi and Moscow have grown closer since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, at least in terms of commerce: overall trade between Russia and the UAE increased by nearly 68% on the year to $9 billion in 2022, according to Russian state news agency Tass. Russian exports to the UAE comprised $8.5 billion of that total.

Read more CNBC politics coverage

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In February 2023, Russian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Sergey Kozlov pledged to bring Russian-Saudi bilateral trade to $5 billion annually, Middle East Briefing reports. That figure was $1.75 billion in 2022, but trade in sectors like agriculture, fertilizer and energy commodities has increased significantly, according to Russian economic analysts.

Putin’s trips overseas have been severely limited due to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes. Notably, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have not ratified the statute that governs the ICC, meaning they are not obligated to arrest the Russian leader on their territory. The visits are the first by Putin to those countries since 2019.

Correction: Russian exports to the UAE comprised $8.5 billion of overall trade between Russia and the UAE in 2022. An earlier version misstated the figure.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Thousands of miles from the U.N.’s climate summit in the Middle East, the world’s largest iceberg is on the move for the first time in more than 35 years.

Scientists believe the juggernaut’s breakaway from Antarctica was a natural occurrence, but say it provides a stark reminder of the potentially disastrous implications as global sea levels rise.

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The iceberg, known as A23a, is estimated to cover an expanse of almost 4,000 square kilometers (1,500 square miles), making it roughly three times the size of New York City.

Satellites have been closely tracking the iceberg’s movements from space after it recently broke free from the White Continent for the first time since 1986.

Robbie Mallett, a sea ice scientist and honorary research fellow at the University of College London, says there are a few reasons why A23a has captured people’s imagination.

“One is that this iceberg is absolutely massive,” Mallett told CNBC at the COP28 climate conference in the United Arab Emirates.

“It is the world’s biggest iceberg currently; it took that title back recently. And it is kind of a metaphor for how massive the cryosphere is, how big Antarctica is,” he continued. “It’s just astonishingly big and it’s a reminder of how much risk we’re at from sea level rise.”

Map shows path of Iceberg A23a as it breaks away from Antarctica.

NASA

The iceberg, which reportedly weighs nearly one trillion metric tons, has been seen freely drifting beyond Antarctic waters toward the Southern Ocean. It is expected to be swept to an area known as “iceberg alley,” putting it on a common iceberg trajectory toward the mountainous island of South Georgia.

The breakaway of A23a is thought to have been part of a natural “carving” process, but Mallet said icebergs are breaking off ice shelves at an increasing rate due to the climate crisis.

“Antarctica has historically been quite a small contributor to sea level rise, but it is growing, and it is taking up a bigger and bigger share of the sea level rise that we see every year,” he added. “So, it’s a symbol of the growing dominance of Antarctica in the sea level rise equation.”

‘Risk category number one’

On the first day of the U.N.’s annual climate conference last week, the World Meteorological Organization warned that a “deafening cacophony” of climate-fueled records was putting humanity at risk of losing the race to rein in sea level rise.

Its findings came shortly after a separate report said that if countries don’t quickly plan for steep emission cuts, global temperatures could rise by as much as 2.5 to 2.9 degrees Celsius (4.5 to 5.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

That’s almost twice the 1.5-degree level that the U.N. says is considered the “upper limit” to avoid the worst of what the climate crisis has in store.

The Arctic and the Antarctic seem very far away [from COP28], so if this huge iceberg can do one thing, it is to remind us that there are big systems out there and our future is intrinsically linked to that.

Gail Whiteman

PROFESSOR OF SUSTAINABILITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

“It has been clearly shown that Antarctic glacier melting has been speeding up and that is one of tipping points we have to follow,” Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the WMO, told CNBC in Dubai.

“For me, my risk category number one is how quickly the Antarctic glacier melts,” Taalas said.

At COP28, policymakers from nearly 200 countries are seeking to reach an agreement that can keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This temperature threshold is widely recognized as crucial because so-called tipping points become more likely beyond this level.

Tipping points are thresholds at which small changes can lead to dramatic shifts in Earth’s entire life support system.

An event banner outside the Al Wasl dome in the Green Zone ahead of the COP28 climate conference at Expo City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. More than 70,000 politicians, diplomats, campaigners, financiers and business leaders will fly to Dubai to talk about arresting the world’s slide toward environmental catastrophe. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A major study published in the journal Science last year identified 16 tipping points, with several identified in the polar regions. The study’s authors cited West Antarctic ice sheet collapse as one of the tipping points that could be triggered if global warming reaches 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The world has already warmed by around 1.1 degrees Celsius, scientists say, after over a century of burning fossil fuels as well as unequal and unsustainable energy and land use.

‘The poles will determine the state of humanity’

Gail Whiteman, professor of sustainability at the University of Exeter, told CNBC at COP28 that the world’s largest iceberg breaking off from Antarctica serves as “a physical reminder that what happens in the poles doesn’t stay there.”

“Now, everybody is worried about this huge iceberg and where is it going to go … it’s game on, so to speak,” she added.

“The Antarctic used to be seen as this sleeping giant, nothing was happening. It was just big and really cold — that’s my non-scientific way of saying it. And now it’s clear based on the sea ice that it is actually destabilizing.”

On November 27, 2023, a break in the swirling cloud cover allowed a glimpse of the Earth’s largest iceberg drifting past the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Courtesy: NASA Modis

The WMO said in late September that Antarctic sea ice had reached its maximum extent after the winter months. However, preliminary data showed that this level remained well below 17 million square kilometers for the first time since records began in 1979. This was a full million square kilometers below last year’s previous record low, which it said was more than the size of Egypt.

“The poles will determine the fate of humanity. The discussion here should be about the polar regions because they are tipping first — and once they do, the issue of adaptation becomes that much more critical,” Whiteman said.

“The Arctic and the Antarctic seem very far away [from COP28], so if this huge iceberg can do one thing, it is to remind us that there are big systems out there and our future is intrinsically linked to that,” she added.

The current conflict in Gaza should provide a wake-up call to politicians in Washington, D.C, according to a former Egyptian foreign minister, who questioned the U.S.′ role in the region and the wider world.

The United States has been very vocal about the latest Israel-Hamas war, with President Joe Biden saying he will continue to support Israel’s campaign against the Palestinian militant group.

It comes amid heavy international criticism of Israel’s bombardment of the territory following the Oct. 7 terror attacks by Hamas, which were also widely condemned.

Former Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Nabil Fahmy told CNBC that the U.S. is “losing a tremendous amount of credibility in the Arab world.” 

The “U.S. needs to take a serious look at its role. If it wants to support a stable world order based on rule of law, it has to demand everybody respect international law, whether friend or foe,” Fahmy, who served as minister between 2013 and 2014, said in an interview.

A White House spokesperson told CNBC that “Israel has the right to defend itself in compliance with international law, including international humanitarian law, especially as Hamas terrorists have said that what happened on October 7th ‘will happen again and again and again’ until Israel is annihilated.”

The Hamas-run health ministry says over 15,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the attacks on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people. 

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VIDEO02:50

The Israel-Hamas war is a ‘no-win’ situation for Biden domestically: Analyst

The U.S has faced criticism for its support of Israel’s actions. Washington had previously vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that called for a humanitarian pause to allow for the delivery of aid into Gaza. 

Domestically, Biden has been warned by some Muslim American and Arab American leaders in swing states that he is losing support from their communities, according to NBC News.

Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group, believes Biden is, on the global stage, probably as isolated on this issue as the Russians were when they first invaded Ukraine. He added that the Democrats are increasingly aligned with the Palestinian position.

“It shows just how challenging this war continuing is going to be for U.S. foreign policy,” he told CNBC Tuesday.

The White House spokesperson told CNBC in an emailed statement that the U.S. continues to “urge Israel about the importance of preventing harm to civilians, and we are working with all partners in the region to increase the flow of additional life-saving aid into Gaza for Palestinian civilians.”

Egypt’s role

Egypt – which borders Gaza – has played a key role in the humanitarian efforts surrounding the war to date, not least because it is home to the Rafah crossing, the only exit point out of the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of Palestinians anxiously hope to make the journey to Egypt via this route. In the deal brokered by Qatar with Egypt, Israel, and Hamas, more than 500 foreign nationals were transported to Egypt in the first week of November. Egypt also accepted over 80 injured and sick people for treatment through the Rafah crossing in early November, which is mostly controlled by Egypt’s intelligence ministry. 

“We have a common border and we have allowed them to come to Egyptian hospitals until they can travel on to their homeland,” Fahmy told CNBC.

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The longer the Israel-Hamas War, the greater the risk to global shipping

Limited evacuations of fragile patients have been coordinated by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the World Health Organization, and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The organizations have successfully evacuated premature babies from Gaza to Egypt. 

As the closest and only functional border crossing, Rafah has been used to transport the most vulnerable Palestinians during the Israeli bombardment. The Palestine Red Crescent Society’s spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said they had evacuated 28 premature babies via the crossing. 

“They were transported to get treatment at Egyptian hospitals because the babies had health complications from the electricity being cut off which led the incubators to shut down,” she told CNBC from Ramallah, a city in the West Bank. 

The Biden administration’s steadfast support of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza has cost him tremendous political capital internationally, according to Ian Bremmer, the CEO and founder of the Eurasia Group.

Washington’s stated unconditional backing of Israel — politically, financially, and militarily — has been a longstanding pillar of its Middle East foreign policy.

When Israel suffered a brutal terrorist attack on Oct. 7 by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that killed some 1,200 people and took more than 240 hostages, Biden flew to the country in a show of solidarity, pledging billions of dollars in military support. The U.S. already provides Israel some $3.1 billion annually in military aid, making it the largest recipient of American foreign aid in the world.

But in the ensuing days and weeks, the enormous and disproportionate scale of Palestinian deaths in Gaza caused by Israeli airstrikes and ground offensive operations raised anger in many parts of the world at both Israel and Biden, particularly in the Global South. Protests in major cities, including across Europe and the U.S., in support of Palestinians and demanding a cease-fire have made global headlines.

During multiple United Nations General Assembly votes calling for cease-fires, Israel and the U.S. were often the only countries or among a very small minority voting “against.”

“Biden is probably as isolated on the global stage, given how close he is to Israel, closest ally of the United States on this issue, as the Russians were when they first invaded Ukraine, which is a shocking thing to say,” Bremmer, the high-profile geopolitical commentator, told CNBC Tuesday. “But it shows just how challenging this war continuing is going to be for U.S. foreign policy.”

A picture taken from southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on December 6, 2023, shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment in Gaza amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

Jack Guez | Afp | Getty Images

Internationally, numerous leaders and human rights organizations have condemned the U.S. for its continued support of Israel. Biden and other members of his administration including Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have said that “far too many” Palestinians have died, and that the way Israel defends itself “matters.” They have helped broker hostage-for-prisoner swaps during a fragile week-long truce and urged the allowance of more aid into Gaza.

But the administration officials hold to the position that Israel “has the right to defend itself,” which critics see as continuing to give Israel carte blanche in its military operations.

A former Egyptian foreign affairs minister, Nabil Fahmy, said last month that the U.S. is “losing a tremendous amount of credibility in the Arab world.” 

The “U.S. needs to take a serious look at its role. If it wants to support a stable world order based on rule of law, it has to demand everybody respect international law, whether friend or foe,” Fahmy, who served as minister between 2013 and 2014, told CNBC in an interview.

Since Oct. 7, more than 16,200 people have been killed in Gaza, including more than 10,000 women and children, according to Hamas-run health authorities there. Israel declared a siege of the already blockaded territory shortly after the Hamas attacks, cutting off all water, food and fuel to Gaza. Weeks later, the first aid trucks were able to enter the Strip, but the provisions that have made it in so far are woefully inadequate, according to the United Nations.

U.S. President Joe Biden is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, as he visits Israel amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 18, 2023.

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

The situation is also a problem for Biden domestically, Bremmer said.

“At home in the United States this is kind of a no-win situation for Biden, because he’s got a majority of Democrats that increasingly are aligned with the Palestinian position, while the Republicans are saying he’s too soft on Israel. And so, I mean, he just really wants this war to be over. He really wants it out of the headlines. And of course, that’s exactly what’s not happening right now.”

“In fact, the war on the ground in Gaza is now expanding,” Bremmer added. “The impact on Palestinian civilians is increasing, and the proxy war in the region, particularly the Houthis in Yemen, a proxy for Iran are engaging in their most significant attacks on commercial waterway traffic and on U.S. military vessels in the last 24 hours that we’ve seen since the war started. So this is really a problem from the perspective of the U.S. and this isn’t going to get better anytime soon.”

People use the lights on their telephones to search for victims amid the rubble of a smouldering building, following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 6, 2023.

Mahmud Hams | AFP | Getty Images

The White House did not immediately reply to a CNBC request for comment, but spokesperson previously told CNBC that “Israel has the right to defend itself in compliance with international law, including international humanitarian law, especially as Hamas terrorists have said that what happened on October 7th ‘will happen again and again and again’ until Israel is annihilated.”

The northern half of Gaza has been decimated, with Israeli forces now moving their ground offensive into the southern half of the enclave, after 1.1 million residents of the north evacuated south on the Israeli military’s orders. Palestinians in Gaza say they have “nowhere to go” to escape the bombings, and the World Health Organization warns that Gaza’s health system has collapsed and disease is spreading among the population.

Israel says it is not intentionally targeting civilians and that it gives warnings before it attacks certain areas. Its goals are to eliminate Hamas and its military capabilities and to ensure the return of all the hostages captured by the group during its October attack.

Incumbent Russian leader Vladimir Putin has confirmed he will run in the national presidential elections of 2024, state news agency Tass reported, according to a Google translation.

Russians will head to the polls on March 17, with Putin’s current powers set to expire on May 7.

Putin, 71, has run Russia for roughly 24 years, alternatively serving as prime minister and president since 1999. Securing another presidential mandate in 2024 would see him remain at the helm of Russian politics until at least 2030.

Russian state news outlet Ria Novosti reported that Putin was on Friday awarding a medal to veterans of its war in Ukraine, which Moscow dubs its “special operation,” when a soldier asked him to run once more for president. Putin confirmed he would.

“Now is the time, I will run,” he said, in Google-translated comments reported by Ria Novosti.

“We are very glad that the president heard our request for nomination, all of Russia supports him,” the solder Artyom Zhoga said afterward.

Putin could potentially remain in power until 2036 thanks to two constitutional amendments that he oversaw. In 2008, the constitution was adjusted to lengthen the presidential term from four to six years. And in 2020, Putin secured constitutional changes allowing him to pursue two further six-year presidential mandates, after his current one expires in 2024.

Putin is unlikely to face any serious contenders in the presidential election. He remains widely popular domestically, despite the costly and bloody ongoing war in Ukraine, widespread international criticism and ensuing Western sanctions over the invasion. There was also a failed coup over the summer that saw Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Russian paramilitary group Wagner turn against Moscow. Citing survey figures produced by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion, Tass says that 78.5% of Russians trust Putin, while 75.8% approve of his activities.

Western reprobation has isolated Putin on the world stage, bringing Russia closer to China, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Critically, the Russian leader’s freedom to move abroad and engage diplomatically has been curtailed by an arrest warrant emitted in March 2023 by the International Criminal Court for the war crime of unlawful deporting and transferring children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. All 123 countries party to the Rome Statue that underpins the ICC would be obligated to arrest Putin if he entered their territories.

Putin has in turn constructed political rhetoric within Russia that paints the West and Western institutions, particularly the U.S., as determined to discredit and sabotage Moscow.

Looking ahead, the long-term challenges for Putin include economic hurdles born of ongoing sanctions that have attacked the oil industry — the backbone of Russia’s revenue streams.

G7 countries can no longer access Russia’s oil supplies, while non-G7 nations may only use Western shipping and insurance services to secure them if they purchase them under fixed discounted prices. Russia’s “dark fleet” of tankers carrying crude and oil products undetected by satellite trackers have stymied efforts to keep track of these flows, however.

Russia’s annual inflation rate hit 6.69% in October, according to state statistics provider Rosstat, above the central bank’s target of 4% but justifying its latest decision to bring its key interest rate to 15% as of Oct. 30.

Despite these indicators, Reuters reported that Putin on Thursday told the Russia Calling business forum in Moscow that the country’s gross domestic product was set to grow 3.5% this year, recovering from a 2.1% contraction in 2022.

“Today, GDP is already higher than it was before the Western sanctions attack,” he said.