Here are the top business, market and economic stories you should be watching today in the UK, Europe, and abroad:

Deutsche Bank defends financial health

Deutsche Bank’s (DBK.F) chairman said the struggling German lender does not need state aid or a merger to save the business.

Paul Achleitner said the bank’s turnaround strategy was working in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on Sunday. Asked whether Deutsche may need financial support, he said: “This scenario will not come about.”

Achleitner told the Sunday newspaper: “Let’s look at the facts: Deutsche Bank has a very strong capital basis compared to its competitors.”

The Frankfurt stock exchange, where Deutsche Bank’s main listing is, is closed for New Year’s Eve.

Liam Fox says ’50-50′ chance of Brexit

International trade secretary Liam Fox has said the chances of Britain leaving the EU are “50-50” if MPs reject Theresa May’s draft Brexit deal.

Fox told the Sunday Times in an interview that the only way to be “100% certain” of Brexit would be to approve May’s widely disliked deal.

“If we were not to vote for that, I’m not sure I would give it much more than 50-50,” he told the paper.

May was forced to pull a vote on her deal in parliament earlier this month as she faced a humiliating defeat. The deal will be put before parliament for a vote in early January.

Success for Sir Martin Sorrell’s new firm

Martin Sorrell’s new era advertising firm S4 Capital (SFOR.L) said on Monday it had secured two major new clients in the run up to Christmas as it reported like-for-like revenue had jumped by 51% in the year to the end of November.

The digital advertising firm, launched earlier this year shortly after Sorrell left WPP (WPP.L), did not name the clients, which it said were “major global packaged goods companies”. It added that gross profit rose more than 44% in the year-to-date period.

Shares in S4 Capital were up by 2.4%.

Bitcoin companies could face trouble in 2019

Many crypto companies will struggle to survive 2019, according to industry observers, after collapsing prices in 2018 depleted the reserves needed to fund their businesses.

Companies are already laying off workers, shutting down operations, and scaling back plans as they face significant headwinds.

“I think you definitely will see companies go bust,” said Anthony Maguire, a former Facebook employee who now runs a blockchain advisory and education business focused on emerging markets. “Tech startups go bust all the time. Sometimes they get swept under the rug in the sense that people just forget about them.”

Read more here.

European markets

European stock markets were quiet, with many closed for New Year’s Eve or open for reduced trading sessions. Britain’s FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was up by 0.03%. The London Stock Exchanges closes at 12.30pm. Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) is closed. France’s CAC 40 (^FCHI) is up by 0.48%, with trading closing at 2.05pm local time. The Euronext 100 (^N100) was up 0.50%.

Asian markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) closed down by 0.31%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index (^HSI) was up by 1.3%, and China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was up by 0.44%.

What to expect in the US

US stock futures were pointing to a higher open. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) were up by 0.7%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) were 0.8% higher, and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were up by 0.7%. The VIX volatility-tracking index (^VIX) was down by 7.8%.

With files from Reuters