Back in London, the stock market has enjoyed something of a Santa Rally.

The FTSE 100 ended the day 41 points higher, or 0.5%, at 7623, a five-month high. Nearly every sector rose, led by consumer stocks, energy companies, tech companies and industrial firms.

China’s easing of tariffs helped the mood, as investors look for a breakthrough in the trade war.

The smaller FTSE 250 jumped 0.8%, amid signs of rising business confidence for 2020:

But sterling had a weaker day, dropping 0.75 of a cent to a three-week low around $1.293. Brexit anxiety still seems to be bubbling away, although liquidity was also thin in the City so we shouldn’t get too worried/excited.

Here’s our latest on the Boeing shake-up:

On that note, goodnight, and see you tomorrow for the Christmas Eve session... GW

Dennis Muilenburg’s position at Boeing was clearly at risk, once regulators refused to allow the 737 Max to resume flights early next year.

As Sky News puts it:

Last Tuesday, the US aircraft maker announced that it would temporarily halt production of the grounded 737 MAX aircraft in January.

The decision was widely seen as a humiliating admission that the fleet’s fate lies in the hands of regulators after its own timetable to return the planes to service dragged by months.

Boeing’s stock is leading the Dow Jones risers in New York, up 2.5% right now.

That, and China’s plan to cut some tariffs, has lifted the Dow by 118 point or 0.4% to 28,572 -- on track for a new record close.

And here’s economics editor, Larry Elliott, on China’s decision to cut tariffs on hundreds of products -- the day’s big news, apart from Boeing.

China is to cut tariffs on more than 850 goods from 1 January in order to boost growth in the world’s second biggest economy.

In a move designed to draw a contrast with Donald Trump’s protectionist approach to trade, Beijing said there would be a temporary cut in duties on products ranging from frozen pork to semiconductors.

An outbreak of swine flu prompted the reduction in tariffs on imported pork but China’s willingness to cut the cost of other goods coming into the country reflected concern at the slowest growth rate in 30 years.

Here’s the Financial Times’s take:

The news came days after the largest US exporter sent shockwaves through its supply chain by announcing that it would halt production at its 12,000-strong Renton pant near Seattle. With regulators still reviewing Boeing’s fixes to the Max airlines have been pushing back their estimates for when they will be able to fly it again, with United saying it will not return to service until June.

Mr Muilenburg, who spent his entire career with Boeing, was widely criticised for a faltering response to the crashes which killed 346 people and the board indicated that it was aware of the need to improve communication, not least with the Federal Aviation Authority, its domestic regulator.

More here: Boeing CEO Muilenburg out after 737 failure

Boeing’s new CEO, David Calhoun, says:

I strongly believe in the future of Boeing and the 737 MAX.

I am honored to lead this great company and the 150,000 dedicated employees who are working hard to create the future of aviation.”

Muilenburg’s replacement, chairman David Calhoun, faces a massive task.

He need to win regulatory approval to get the 737 Max flying again, and persuade customers that the aircraft is genuinely safe to travel on.

Reuters says that Muilenburg’s days have been numbered for some times, but is Calhoun the right person to turn Boeing around?

Speculation that Muilenburg would be fired had been circulating in the industry for months, intensifying in October when the board stripped him of his chairman title.

A Boeing official said the board deliberated over the weekend and they made the decision to fire Muilenburg in a phone call on Sunday.

Aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia said the appointment of Calhoun, who previously served as head of Blackstone Group’s private equity portfolio operation, will provide needed short-term stability, but not the long-term “emphasis on engineering” the company needs.

“Calhoun is respected in the industry,” Aboulafia said on Monday. “But long-term, does he bring the right tool kit? Private equity leans companies out. That’s not Boeing’s problem right now.”

Here’s David Madden of CMC Markets:

Boeing confirmed that Dennis Muilenburg has resigned from the company amid the 737 Max crisis. David Calhoun has been named as CEO as well as president.

The industrial giant is trying to put the 737 Max catastrophes behind it, and the removal of Muilenburg is a part of that strategy, but the group will find it tough to shake off the reputation of the two disasters. The stock is higher on account of the news.

Boeing’s shares have jumped by over 3% in early trading in New York, as traders welcome Muilenburg’s exit.

Muilenburg’s departure comes a week after Boeing finally suspended production of the 737 Max, having failed to persuade regulators to allow the plane to resume flying.

Wall Street has given its verdict -- Boeing’s shares are up 2% in pre-market trading following news of Muilenburg’s resignation.

Here’s our news story on the Vimto profits warning:

Hopes of a trade war breakthrough mean Wall Street should post its best year since 2013, with the S&P 500 index up around 28% this year.

Fears of a recession have eased, as Reuters explains:

U.S. stock index futures touched new record highs on Monday, as President Donald Trump said over the weekend that the United States and China would “very shortly” sign their so-called Phase One trade pact.

The Phase One deal, announced earlier this month, helped fuel a rally on Wall Street, with its three main indexes hitting record closing highs on Friday. Last week, the S&P 500 also registered its biggest weekly percentage gain since early September.

China said it will lower tariffs on products ranging from frozen pork and avocado to some types of semiconductors next year.

As the year draws to a close the benchmark index has risen 28.5% in 2019, putting it on track for its best annual performance since 2013.

On Friday, markets also cheered data which showed a rise in consumer spending, adding to a slew of encouraging data that has helped put a damper on recession fears, which plagued markets earlier this year.

The US stock market could hit a record high of its own today.

The main indices are up 0.1% in the futures market, as traders take heart from China’s plan to cut tariffs.

Switzerland’s stock index, the SMI, just hit a record high.

It’s up 34 points, or 0.3%, in a pre-Christmas rally.

Spying on one senior executive is unfortunate. Two looks incredibly suspicious.

So there are red faces at Credit Suisse today, which has admitted that its HR boss was tracked by private detectives earlier this year.

My colleague Kayleena Makortoff explains:

The bank has confirmed that its former head of human resources Peter Goerke was followed for “several days” in February this year by private detectives hired on behalf of the bank. This follows the revelation that Iqbal Khan, the former head of the bank’s wealth management division, had been chased by investigators through the streets of Zurich in September.

Credit Suisse insisted at the time that the Khan incident was a one-off and that its chief executive, Tidjane Thiam, had no knowledge of it. However, on Monday it confirmed the second case involving Goerke and once again cleared Thiam of any responsibility.

It is understood that the surveillance of Goerke was conducted after he was told he was being bumped off the executive team and demoted to a senior adviser role, which he still holds.

Here’s the full story:

Bloomberg points out that medical products, orange juice and logs will also benefit from China’s lower tariffs:

There’s not much drama in the foreign exchange market.

Sterling inched up to $1.303, up 0.2%, having fallen steadily last week as Brexit fears reappeared.

Kit Juckes of Société Générale says traders are more interested in Christmas than currencies today:

We’ve made it past the shortest day, but markets are still struggling to wake up and the morning’s FX range could be covered by a handkerchief. Sterling’s bounced a bit, the won is weaker, the market’s got mince pies on the mind.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA Europe, says investors are optimistic that the trade wars will cool down in 2020.

He writes:

It’s been a strong run up to Christmas for the stock markets and it seems traders are taking a little breather in this shortened trading week.

European stocks are trading slightly in negative territory at the start of the week, although there’s very little we can read into this, given the lower festive volumes and news flow. It’s been a good few week’s for investors, spurred primarily by the de-escalation in the trade war, with Trump only this weekend claiming it will be signed very shortly.

Shares in NMC Healthcare, the UAE’s largest healthcare provider, have surged nearly 25% after it responded to an attack from short-seller Muddy Waters.

NMC has launched an ‘independent review’ of its books, days after Muddy Waters claimed that its asset values, cash balance, reported profits and debt levels could be inaccurate.

That sent NMC’s share slumping last week, from £26 to £13 in a few days. They’re now back at £16.14 this morning, at the top of the FTSE 100.

With two days until Christmas, European stock markets are notably quiet.

Britain’s FTSE 100 is down 18 points, or 0.25%; technology, consumer non-cyclicals and industrials are the only sectors rising today.

The EU-wide Stoxx 600 is also a little weaker, down 0.1%. Many traders will have squared their books ahead of the festive break, banking profits (or swallowing losses) for the year.

Beijing’s tariff-reduction plan wasn’t enough to stop Chinese stocks falling today.

The CSI 300 index has shed 1.3%, its biggest fall in six weeks, led by a slump in tech shares.

That’s because a major state-controlled fund announced plans to cut its stakes in certain technology companies.

Gary Ng, an economist at Natixis in Hong Kong, says Beijing is sending a message....and also trying to support its economy.

“The move in lowering import tariffs reflects that the government wants to reaffirm its stance to the world on freer trade amid the trade war.

Domestically, lowering import tariffs are helpful in reducing business and consumer costs.

Bloomberg has calculated that China imported $389bn of the products whose tariffs are being lowered.

That’s a significant amount - China imported around $2 trillion of goods, according to customs data.

Analysts are welcoming China’s plan to cut tariffs.

It is “another positive step in the US-China trade story”, says David Madden of CMC Markets (who gets a bonus point for not signing off for Christmas yet).