1. Asian shares are under pressure on the last trading day of the year, after weakness in the technology sector extended losses on Wall Street for a third session.
Australian stocks fell about 0.7% in early trade Tuesday, with futures also pointing to a downbeat open in Hong Kong. A gauge of regional equities is set for its first quarterly loss this year. US contracts edged lower in Asia, following declines for both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100.
2. Gold prices dip as markets await fresh catalysts
Gold prices dipped in thin trade on Monday as traders awaited fresh catalysts, including next week’s U.S. economic data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s 2025 interest-rate outlook, as well as policies from incoming President Donald Trump. Spot gold fell 0.6% to $2,603.53 per ounce. U.S. gold futures were down 0.6% at $2,616.4.
3. Natural gas surges as much as 20% on expectations for colder-than-usual January on the East Coast
Natural gas futures prices surged Monday, hitting a new 52-week high following reports of a colder-than-usual temperature outlook for January. Natural gas February futures rose around 15% during the session after an updated outlook by The Weather Co. and Atmospheric G2 released Sunday showed that the temperature forecast for next month is expected to be colder than average in the East, specifically from Florida to Maine as well as certain parts of the Great Lakes.
4. S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow slide as strong year nears its close
Stocks fell on Monday, with the woes of the three major indexes continuing in the final week of the year as an otherwise strong 2024 comes to a close. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) slipped more than 1% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell roughly 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell about 0.8%. Stocks moved lower as the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) retreated from a seven-month high to hover near 4.55%.
5. US Treasury Says Was Targeted by China State-Sponsored Cyberattack
The US Treasury Department said Monday that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach resulting in access to some of its workstations, according to a letter to Congress seen by AFP. The incident happened earlier this month, when the actor compromised a third-party cybersecurity service provider and was able to remotely access the Treasury workstations and some unclassified documents, a Treasury spokesperson added. Treasury contacted the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency after it was alerted of the situation by its provider Beyond Trust, and has been working with law enforcement partners to ascertain the impact.
6. Arrest warrant issued for impeached S Korea president Yoon
A Seoul court hasissued an arrest warrant against South Korea’s suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol over his attempt to impose martial law on 3 December. The warrant comes after Yoon, who is being investigated for abusing his power and inciting an insurrection, ignored three summonses to appear for questioning over the past two weeks. Yoon’s legal team has called the warrant “illegal and invalid” and said they would challenge it in court.
7. China’s Services Activity Jumps as Stimulus Boosts Local Demand
China’s services activity expanded at the fastest pace in nine months while the manufacturing sector grew for a third straight month, signalling improving domestic demand after Beijing’s stimulus blitz.
8. South Korea plane crash investigations intensify as questions raised over airport embankment
The investigation into Sunday’s plane crash in South Korea, in which all but two of the 181 people aboard died, intensified on Tuesday as authorities came under pressure to explain how the jetliner lost control and to identify victims. Families of the dead – 175 passengers and four crew – remained at Muan international airport, the scene of the deadliest plane crash on South Korean soil, to demand more information from authorities.
9. Boeing shares fell 2.3% Monday, after a 737-800 aircraft operated by Jeju Air crashed at Muan International Airport, killing all but two of the 181 passengers.
Investigators are focusing on a possible bird strike or landing-gear failure. Wolfe analyst Myles Walton says that aside from the obvious name association of being a Boeing 737, the tragic crash should have no read-through to Boeing’s stock and the plane maker’s current struggles to ramp up its production of the 737 Max jet. The accident’s root cause could be among several factors, but workmanship from 15 years prior, and design aren’t likely in the mix, he adds.
10. Natural gas producing stocks were rising Monday, in-step with the commodity, on expectations for colder weather in the US and Europe, as well as the looming end of the Ukraine-Russia gas transit agreement.
Futures for February delivery rose as much as 19% on Monday. The First Trust Natural Gas ETF rose as much as 1.5%, led by Comstock Resources, Ring Energy, Antero and EQT.
11. Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw their shares jump after a post from Bill Ackman stoked optimism the companies will be released from conservatorship under Donald Trump’s administration.
Fannie rose 36.1%, Freddie advanced 33.9%. Ackman wrote about owning Fannie and Freddie common stock for more than a decade, conceding they have not been great investments to date, but said “what makes them particularly interesting today versus any other time in history is that there is a credible path for their removal from conservatorship in the relative short term, that is, in the next two years”. “During Trump’s first term, Secretary Mnuchin took steps toward this outcome, but he ran out of time. I expect that in the second @realDonaldTrump administration, Trump and his team will get the job done”
12. Warner Bros. Discovery Board Member Li Haslett Chen Resigns
Li Haslett Chen, founder and CEO of social-media commerce company Howl, is stepping down from Warner Bros. Discovery‘s board of directors to devote herself full time to Howl. Chen’s exit from WBD’s board is effective Jan. 31, 2025. Her term was scheduled to expire at the Warner Bros. Discovery 2025 annual meeting of stockholders. Chen has served on the board of Warner Bros. Discovery since April 2022, when the media company was formed through the merger of Discovery Inc. and WarnerMedia.
13. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is buying up shares of a lagging 1990s dotcom darling
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has invested $74 million in infrastructure company VeriSign even as its stock has fallen 2% during a skyrocketing year for tech companies. Warren Buffett is taking a gamble on ’90s tech company VeriSign, buying up millions of dollars’ worth of shares even as its stock price fell during an otherwise banner year for tech.
14. Nvidia closes $700 mln Run: Ai acquisition after regulatory hurdles
Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab has completed its acquisition of Israeli AI firm Run: Ai, the startup said on Monday, following antitrust scrutiny over the buyout. The European Commission granted unconditional approval to Nvidia’s $700 million bid for Run: Ai, which helps developers optimize infrastructure for AI, earlier in December after saying in October that the deal would require EU antitrust clearance.