(Bloomberg) -- Happy Friday, Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

• President Donald Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve may hold a silver lining for Chairman Jerome Powell: preserving unity among colleagues who can sometimes go rogue
• China will remove the retaliatory duty on automobiles imported from the U.S. for three months in an effort to defuse trade tensions with the world’s biggest economy
  • China’s economy slowed again in November as retail sales and industrial production weakened, creating a challenging backdrop for policy makers who gather next week to set the tone for the year at their annual Economic Work Conference in Beijing
• The euro-area economy is closing out 2018 on a gloomy note, echoing a trend of weaker global growth from China to the U.S.
  • While the drop was driven mainly by France where the “Yellow Vests” movement led to a contraction, there’s also signs that underlying momentum is dropping off
• Russia’s central bank unexpectedly increased borrowing costs for the second time this year ahead of a spike in inflation next quarter from a tax hike and possible U.S. sanctions
• Sydney property prices are tumbling and yet Australia’s central bank is remaining cool. Why? Meanwhile, markets have been signaling a very slim chance of an RBA rate cut for the past week in a significant reversal
• The Reserve Bank of India’s board Friday bought more time to review the government’s demand for a greater say in the central bank’s functioning, one of the issues that had fostered hostilities between the two sides.
• Finally, here’s our weekly wrap of what’s going on in the world economy and our look ahead of what’s to come

To contact the reporter on this story: Zoe Schneeweiss in London at zschneeweiss@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Joanna Ossinger

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