Five Things to Know Now: Shanghai Trading Record

European stocks rallied and Asian stock markets closed higher ahead of U.S. nonfarm payrolls data. Trading volumes in Shanghai stocks, which have recently been partly liberalized to foreign investment, hit a record.

Here are five things that matter for markets now:

• Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, halved its forecast for Germany's growth for next year to 1%. This is likely to reignite fears of a wider slowdown in the eurozone.  
• Cuts in the official oil prices by Saudi Arabia sent Brent close to $69 a barrel in London trading. Analysts say that Saudi Arabia is stepping up its battle for market share, by cutting prices for oil it exports to the U.S. and Asia just a week after OPEC did not come to an agreement to cut production to prop up oil prices.
• Chinese stocks trading volume hit a record on Friday, as investors tested the rally in mainland China shares following the partial liberalization of foreign investors' access. The value of shares traded in Shanghai hit a daily record of 639 billion yuan ($103.8 billion). The Shanghai Composite index rose 2.7% before plunging 3% in the space of 30 minutes in morning trading, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• European plane maker Airbus, Boeing's (BA) biggest competitor, reported an order book that is almost twice the level it projected for 2014, with net orders between January and November of 1,031 aircraft. Boeing reported a cumulative total of 1,380 gross orders for the year to Dec. 2. After adjusting for cancellations, Boeing's net orders stood at 1,274 aircraft during the period.
• Ford (F) said its sales in China increased in November by 2% from the year-ago period, to 100,834 vehicles. Its Chinese sales in the first 11 months of the year totaled 1,007,425 vehicles, up 20% from the same period a year earlier.

At the time of publication, Antonia Oprita had no positions in any of the securities mentioned.