1. Stocks Buoyed as ‘Santa Claus Rally’ Period Begins: Markets Wrap
A rally in the group that has led Wall Street’s gains in 2024 lifted stocks in a relatively quiet session ahead of Christmas. Following a strong day for big tech, the shares continued to power ahead on Tuesday. Tesla Inc. led mega caps higher. Broadcom Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. climbed as President Joe Biden’s team launched a probe into Chinese-made chips. In a shortened pre-holiday session, the S&P 500 closed with an advance of over 1% amid thin trading volume.
2. S&P 500 rises 1% on Christmas Eve, tech stocks lift the market again
Stocks jumped Tuesday on Christmas Eve as the market pulled off back-to-back gains in the holiday week. The S&P 500 added 1.1% to 6,040.04, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 390.08 points, or 0.91%, to 43,297.03. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.35% to 20,031.13, helped by a 7.4% jump in Tesla shares. Amazon and Meta Platforms gained more than 1% each.
3. Gold steadies in holiday lull as markets await 2025 Fed moves
Gold prices steadied in holiday-thinned trade on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate strategy and President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff policies, which could shape the metal’s trajectory next year. Spot gold rose 0.1% to $2,616.88 per ounce. U.S. gold futures settled 0.3% up at $2,635.50. “The current sideways trend appears to be primarily driven by the low liquidity environment,” said Zain Vawda, market analyst at Market Pulse by OANDA.
4. Oil prices rise in thin pre-holiday trade
Oil prices rose on Tuesday, reversing the prior session’s losses, buoyed by a slightly positive market outlook for the short term, despite thin trade ahead of the Christmas holiday. Brent crude futures were up 82 cents, or 1.1%, at $73.45 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures also rose 76 cents, or 1.1%, to $70 a barrel.
5. China keeps key rate steady as it withdraws most cash since 2014
China refrained from cutting the interest rate and drained the most cash since 2014 with a one-year policy tool, keeping its powder dry ahead of possible escalation in trade tensions with the US next year. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) held the interest rate on the one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) steady at 2% a move predicted by nine of out 10 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The authorities also withdrew a net 1.15 trillion yuan (US$158 billion or RM706.91 billion) from the financial system with the tool, the most since 2014.Earlier this month, policymakers pledged “moderately loose” monetary policy the first shift in stance in about 14 years along with “more proactive” fiscal tools to bolster the economy. But so far, they have refrained from announcing any concrete stimulus, reflecting their patience before the US imposes the tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump threatened earlier.
6. Japan Is Said to Set Initial FY25 Debt Servicing Rate at 2%
Japan’s Finance Ministry will set a key rate used to calculate the country’s interest payments at 2%, an increase from the current rate, according to people familiar with the matter. The accumulated interest rate used for calculating Japan’s debt-servicing costs will be set at 2% for the initial budget for the year starting in April 2025, according to the people. In August, when the ministry compiled budget requests from other ministries, the rate was tentatively set at 2.1%, compared with 1.9% for the current fiscal year.
7. American Air says holiday delays caused by vendor tech glitch
American Airlines Group Inc. said that a tech issue with DXC Technology Co., a third-party vendor that maintains the company’s flight-operating systems, caused a brief ground stop on all US flights on Christmas Eve. The carrier said Tuesday the delay lasted about one hour, but the issue has been resolved and flights have resumed. It blamed an unspecified technology issue impacting its ability to release flights.
8. UN Gives Go-Ahead for Negotiations Toward Global Tax Treaty
The United Nations General Assembly approved the negotiation of a global tax treaty, clearing the way for countries to begin talks next year. In Christmas Eve action, 119 countries voted in Favor of talks, nine voted against, and 43 abstained. Those opposed were mostly developed economies, including the US, while European Union nations made up most of the abstentions. The vote by the UN’s main decision-making body was the last procedural hurdle ahead of the treaty’s inaugural organizational session to be held Feb. 3-6.
9. Elon Musk’s xAI raises $6 bln in funding round including Nvidia, AMD
XAI, the artificial intelligence start-up founded by billionaire Elon Musk, said on Monday it had raised $6 billion in a series C funding round, which included participation from NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) and AMD (NASDAQ: AMD). The latest round puts xAI’s valuation at more than $40 billion, according to multiple reports, and comes after a series B funding round earlier this year also raised $6 billion. Participants in this funding round included venture capitalist majors including a16z, Kingdom (TADAWUL:4280) Holdings and Sequoia. Investment giants Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) also participated in the round, as did tech majors Nvidia and AMD.
10. Michael Saylor Announces $299 Million ‘Bitcoin Gift’ to MSTR Holders
Michael Saylor, founder of MicroStrategy business intelligence firm, who is currently its executive chairman in charge of its Bitcoin strategy, has taken to the X social media platform to reveal last week’s net benefit paid to the company’s BTC shareholders. Saylor called it a Bitcoin “gift” to the company’s shareholders. $299 million “Bitcoin gift” to MSTR shareholders. Saylor tweeted that last week, the treasury operations of his company resulted in a Bitcoin yield of 0.72% with a net benefit of approximately 3,177 BTC.
11. Starbucks strike to expand to over 300 US stores on Christmas Eve, union says
A strike at Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) will expand to over 300 U.S. stores on Tuesday, with more than 5,000 workers expected to walk off the job before the five-day work stoppage ends later on Christmas Eve, the workers’ union said. Starbucks, which operates more than 10,000 company-operated stores across the United States, said 98% of its stores remained open, with around 170 stores closed on Tuesday. The workers union claimed more than 290 stores were “fully shut down”, and more than 300 stores were on strike as planned across 45 U.S. states.
12. Stellantis unit to pay $4.2 million to resolve California emissions probe
Stellantis unit FCA US agreed to pay $4.2 million to resolve a California investigation into excess emissions, the state said on Monday. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) said the vehicles covered by the settlement for violations of air quality regulations include 2014 through 2016 Ram ProMaster 1500, 2500 and 3500 vehicles equipped with 3.0L diesel engines. The state said the vehicles had an unapproved device that circumvented emissions control and resulted in nearly 55 tons of excess oxides of nitrogen being released into the air. Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) in 2022 paid a $5.6 million settlement to California for similar allegations involving gas-powered vehicles.
13. Salesforce Stokes Veeva Fight by Snagging Drug Customers
Salesforce Inc. says it’s taking multiple large customers from former partner Veeva Systems Inc. in a mounting rivalry to sell software to the pharmaceutical industry. More than 40 customers, including a “top three global pharma leader,” have inked deals to use Salesforce’s soon-to-launch life sciences product, said Jeff Amann, executive vice president of Salesforce’s industry-specific software lines.
14. Biden to Decide on US Steel Takeover After Panel Deadlocks
Nippon Steel Corp.’s proposed $12.3 billion acquisition of US Steel Corp. moved a step closer to being blocked after a US national security panel deadlocked on its review and left the final decision with President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly indicated his opposition to the deal.
15. FDA raises recall alert to highest level on Costco eggs over risk of severe illness or death due to salmonella
Federal food regulators raised their alarm for recalled eggs sold from Costco stores over possible salmonella exposure, reclassifying the targeted product to their highest risk level. The FDA had previously announced on Nov. 27 that about 10,800 retail units of organic, pasture-raised, 24-count eggs, sold under Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand, were being recalled by New York-Handsome Brook Farms.
16. BOJ core CPI climbs to 1.7%
The BoJ Core CPI index, which is closely watched by the central bank, rose to 1.7% y/y in November, up from 1.5% in October and above the market estimate or 1.5%. This release follows last week’s national headline inflation release, which jumped to 2.9% in November from 2.3% in October. This was the highest level since October 2023. The gain was driven by sharp increases in food and electricity prices. Notably, core CPI, which excludes food, rose from 2.6% to 2.7% and core-core CPI, which excludes food and energy, climbed from 2.3% to 2.4%.
17. Nissan could face cost-cutting ‘carnage’ in Honda merger, Carlos Ghosn says
Former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn told CNBC that the company would be “victim of a carnage” if it merges with Honda due to “total duplication” between the Japanese automakers. Honda and Nissan on Monday unveiled plans for a potential business integration in order to compete in the electric vehicle transition. Ghosn, who faces financial misconduct charges in Japan, said Nissan appeared as if it is “looking for somebody to save them from the situation” as it grapples with waning sales and profit.