Overnight stock market
Most major global indices closed lower on Friday, thanks to the latest inflation data showing signs of slowing down. The three major US stock indices rebounded significantly, all closing up over 1%.
The data released on Friday showed that the year-on-year increase in PCE in November in the United States was 2.4%, and the month on month increase was 0.1%; The year-on-year increase in core PCE in November was 2.8%, and the month on month increase was 0.1%; All four indicators are lower than market expectations.
Despite a significant rebound on Friday, major stock indices still collectively closed lower this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.25% this week, the S&P 500 Index fell 1.99%, and the Nasdaq fell 1.78%.
Commodity Market
The settlement price of WTI crude oil futures in February closed up 0.08 US dollars, an increase of 0.11%, at 69.46 US dollars per barrel, with a cumulative decline of 1.92% for the week. Brent crude oil futures for February closed up $0.06, or 0.08%, at $72.94 per barrel, with a cumulative decline of 2.08% for the week.
COMEX gold futures rose 1.25% to $2640.8 per ounce, down 1.32% for the week. COMEX silver futures rose 2.26% to $30.075/ounce, with a cumulative decline of 3.07% for the week.
Market News
Media: Trump demands NATO to significantly increase military spending and plans to continue providing military aid to Ukraine
According to sources cited by the media, President elect Trump's team has revealed to European officials that Trump will demand NATO member countries to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP and plans to continue providing military aid to Ukraine.
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives: Republicans in the House have reached a consensus on advancing the appropriations bill
US House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed confidence after a meeting on December 20th that the government will not shut down after the deadline. Johnson stated that Republicans in the House of Representatives have reached a consensus on advancing the appropriations bill. Johnson said, "We will not let the government shut down. We will fulfill our aid commitments to farmers, disaster victims across the country, ensure funding for the military and other basic services, and ensure that personnel who rely on federal government salaries can receive compensation during holidays
The United States cancels the bounty for the leader of the Syrian Sham Liberation Army
According to US media reports, a delegation of high-level diplomats from the United States met with Ahmed Shara, the leader of the Syrian Sham Liberation Army, in the Syrian capital Damascus on the 20th, and subsequently announced the cancellation of the bounty previously offered for the capture of Shara.
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau reshuffles cabinet to address dual challenges at home and abroad
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau reshuffled his cabinet on December 20th local time, and his inauguration ceremony was held at the Governor General's Office. It is understood that the Minister of Public Safety in the new cabinet will be succeeded by David McKenzie, former Chairman of the Canadian National Security and Intelligence Council. Another important appointment is Anita Anand as the newly established Minister of Transport and Domestic Trade. This appointment indicates that the new cabinet intends to strengthen the development of domestic trade in the face of Trump's tariff threat. In addition, there are multiple job adjustments.
The German President will announce on December 27th whether to dissolve the Federal Parliament
On the 20th local time, German Federal President Steinmeier announced on December 27th whether the German Bundestag (lower house of parliament) will be dissolved in order to pave the way for the holding of a new Bundestag election. In the confidence vote held in the German Bundestag on the 16th, German Chancellor Scholz failed to gain the support of a majority of members.
A vehicle collision incident occurred at a festival market in Germany, and the death toll has risen to 2
On the evening of the 20th local time, a car collision incident occurred at a festival market in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony Anhalt, Germany. The governor of Saxony Anhalt stated that the accident has resulted in at least two deaths, including one child.
According to previous police reports, the accident also resulted in 70 injuries, including 15 serious injuries.
Samsung receives $4.745 billion in subsidies from the US government
Samsung ultimately signed a chip bill funding agreement with the US government, receiving up to $4.745 billion. Samsung's attempt to build a Texas factory has received support.
OpenAI announces new O3 model
OpenAI has released the next-generation inference model o3, which is the latest version of the o1 "inference" model released earlier this year. Just like o1, o3 is a model family, and o3-mini is a smaller, streamlined version of the model that has been specifically tuned for specific tasks. OpenAI claims that under certain conditions, O3 can approach achieving AGI. OpenAI President Greg Brockman stated that the latest inference model O3 is a breakthrough, with improvements in step functions on the most challenging benchmarks. Now we are starting security testing and red team drills.
Italy fines OpenAI 15 million euros for violating privacy regulations
On December 20th, the Italian Data Protection Agency (Garante) announced that it has imposed a fine of 15 million euros (approximately 15.58 million US dollars) on OpenAI, the manufacturer of ChatGPT, after ending its investigation into the use of personal data by generative artificial intelligence applications. Garante stated that it found that OpenAI processed users' personal data for the purpose of training ChatGPT without sufficient legal basis, violating the principles of transparency and its obligations to users regarding relevant information.
Volkswagen AG reached an agreement through negotiations between labor and management
On the 20th local time, Volkswagen Group in Germany reached an agreement with union representatives to avoid factory closures and layoffs due to operational reasons.
Volkswagen announces plans to lay off over 35000 employees in Germany by 2030
Volkswagen's statement shows that it will lay off more than 35000 employees in Germany before 2030, and the agreement reached will save over 15 billion euros in costs annually in the medium term. The agreement has no significant impact on the expected guidance for 2024; We are looking for an alternative solution for the Dresden factory in Germany.
Former Nissan CEO Ghosn: Seeking an agreement with Honda is a desperate move, making it difficult for the two companies to achieve synergy
Former Chairman of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, stated that the struggling Japanese automaker is seeking an agreement with Honda, indicating that the former is in a "panic mode". This is a desperate move, "Ghosn said on Friday." It's not a pragmatic deal because frankly, it's difficult to find synergies between the two companies. "Ghosn said negotiations with Honda regarding a potential merger indicate that Nissan is in a" panic mode.