Japanese indexes hit record highs Wednesday on expectations that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi could call for a snap election, likely in February. If called, it will be Takaichi’s first time facing Japan’s voters in an election. The Nikkei 225 index rose 1.61%, crossing the 54,000 mark for the first time, after gaining over 3% to hit a record high Tuesday. The Topix also continued to push fresh highs and gained 0.87%. The Japanese yen has also weakened past the 159 mark against the dollar, reaching its lowest level since July 2024, when Japanese authorities intervened to stop the yen’s slide. Other Asia markets were mixed, with South Korea’s Kospi up 0.14%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.49% lower.
The S&P 500 fell on Tuesday as investors sold JPMorgan despite better-than-expected numbers and grappled with volatility from a flurry of President Donald Trump proposals floated in the past few days. The broad-based index slipped 0.19% and closed at 6,963.74, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 398.21 points, or 0.8%, and ended at 49,191.99. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1% and settled at 23,709.87. JPMorgan dipped 4.2%, even after the company’s fourth-quarter results beat on the top and bottom lines. While both companywide and equities trading revenue increased in the quarter, investment banking fees fell and missed expectations.
Gold prices climbed above $4,610 per ounce on Wednesday, attempting to notch a fresh record, supported by growing bets on US rate cuts and increased safe-haven demand. December data pointed to a moderation in underlying US inflation, reinforcing the view that price pressures are gradually easing and offering a clearer read after earlier figures were distorted by temporary shutdown effects. In response, rate futures showed investors split between expectations of two or three Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, exceeding policymakers’ median projection of just one. Meanwhile, haven demand strengthened amid renewed concerns over the Fed's independence after US prosecutors launched a criminal probe linked to Chair Powell’s June testimony.
WTI crude oil futures dipped to around $61 per barrel on Wednesday, pausing a four-day rally as Venezuela resumed oil exports, though the move was countered by ongoing fears of supply disruptions from Iran. Two super tankers carrying about 1.8 million barrels each departed Venezuelan waters, likely marking the first shipments under a 50-million-barrel supply deal with the US. Still, prices hovered near a three-month high, supported by rising supply risks tied to intensifying protests in Iran. President Trump has also cancelled talks with Iranian officials while signalling support for demonstrators, with unrest and possible US involvement threatening Iran’s roughly 3.3 million bpd output
China’s exports growth in December sharply beat expectations, catapulting the annual trade surplus to a record high, even as imports rose at their fastest pace in three months. Exports surged 6.6% in U.S. dollar terms last month from a year earlier, Chinese customs data showed Wednesday, topping analysts’ median estimate for a 3% growth and accelerating from a 5.9% jump in November. Imports rose 5.7% in December from a year earlier, topping expectations for a 0.9% growth — strongest since September last year when they rose 7.4%, according to LSEG data. China’s exports for the full year grew 5.5% compared to 2024 while imports stayed flat, taking Beijing’s trade surplus to $1.19 trillion. Trade tensions with the U.S. have led to double-digit declines in Chinese shipment to the country for most part of last year.
President Donald Trump’s threat of 25% tariffs on countries doing business with Iran has raised the risk of derailing Washington’s fragile trade deal with Beijing — Tehran’s largest trading partner. Trump said Monday night stateside that the U.S. will start charging a 25% tariff on imports from countries that do business with Iran. The order is “effective immediately,” he said in a Truth Social post. The world’s top two economies had secured an interim trade deal in late October that saw a roll back of punitive U.S. tariffs on China, while Beijing paused its sweeping rare earth export controls. In response to Trump’s tariff threat China said it “firmly opposes any illicit unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction,” while warning that it would take “all necessary measures” to defend its interests, according to a post on X by a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S.
Global central bankers issued a statement Tuesday defending U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell following the launch of a criminal investigation into the central bank chief. “We stand in full solidarity with the Federal Reserve System and its Chair Jerome H. Powell,” central bank chiefs including European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, said in a joint statement. “The independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the citizens that we serve. It is therefore critical to preserve that independence, with full respect for the rule of law and democratic accountability,” they added.
Core U.S. consumer prices rose less than predicted in December, reinforcing hopes that inflation is tempering as the Federal Reserve contemplates its next move on interest rates. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the consumer price index showed a seasonally adjusted 0.2% gain on a monthly basis and 2.6% annually, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. Both were 0.1 percentage point below expectations. Though they look at both measures, Fed officials consider core inflation a better long-run gauge of where inflation is heading. On a headline basis, the CPI posted an increase of 0.3% for the month, putting the all-items annual rate at 2.7%. Both were exactly in line with the Dow Jones consensus estimate.
Netflix is preparing to make an all-cash offer for Warner Bros Discovery’s studios and streaming businesses, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The changes are designed to expedite a sale, which will take months to close and has faced opposition from politicians and rival bidder Paramount Skydance, according to the source. Bloomberg News reported on the news earlier in the day. Netflix declined to comment on the Bloomberg report, while Warner Bros did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Upon close on Tuesday, shares of Netflix were up 1.02% and Warner Bros closed 1.62% higher. Paramount shares remained flat. Netflix’s $82.7 billion deal initially consisted of cash and stock for Warner Bros’ film and streaming assets, while Paramount offered $108.4 billion in cash for the whole company, including its cable TV business.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said a North American free trade deal is needed for the automaker and industry, hours after U.S. President Trump called it "irrelevant." "We really see Canada and Mexico and the U.S. as an integrated manufacturing system. And that’s how we’re going to approach this negotiation. Very critical for us, but we need revisions," Farley said on the sidelines of an event at the Detroit Auto Show on Tuesday evening. The trade deal, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, is up for review this year to decide whether it will be left to expire or another agreement will be worked out. Trump last year imposed 25% tariffs on autos imported from those countries, while also allowing for workarounds that have reduced the levies. "We could have it or not, it wouldn’t matter to me,” Trump said, speaking at a Ford plant on Tuesday.
Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled an initiative to curb water usage at its U.S. data centers and limit the impact on the general population from any potential surge in power prices. Political leaders across the U.S. are urging a rapid expansion of data-center capacity and new power production to keep the country competitive in AI. However, local communities are voicing concerns over how the power-hungry facilities will impact their utility bills and use land, water and other natural resources in the region. Microsoft said it will pay utility rates high enough to cover its power costs and work with local utilities to expand supply when needed for its data centers. It also pledged to replenish more water than its data centers consume, saying it would start publishing water-use information for each data center region in the U.S., along with its progress on replenishment.
A little over four years after Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook’s name to Meta, reflecting his view that the future of work, play and socializing was going virtual, the company is making a major course correction. Meta this week began laying off employees focused on virtual reality within its Reality Labs division and is shutting down a number of studios that were working on VR titles, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named due to confidentiality. CNBC confirmed a report from the New York Times that layoffs, amounting to more than 1,000 jobs, will impact about 10% of the hardware division, which makes Quest VR headsets, and the Horizon Worlds virtual social network.
Boeing logged net orders for 1,173 airplanes last year, marking the first time it outsold its European rival Airbus since 2018, the latest sign of Boeing’s recovery. Boeing handed over 63 jetliners to customers last month, bringing its annual delivery total to 600 aircraft, the most in seven years, before two deadly crashes and a host of other problems derailed its output. Forty-four of those deliveries were 737 Maxes, Boeing said Tuesday. Airbus still delivered more aircraft last year than Boeing, with 793, though that sum is below the record 863 airplanes the European manufacturer handed over in 2019. Airbus had 889 net orders for 2025. Engine and other supply chain issues continue to hold up aircraft deliveries. Deliveries are key for airplane manufacturers because airlines pay the bulk of a jet’s price when they receive the plane.