January 17, 2025

• Posted By: Editorial Team

Global markets rose during the week after a number of announcements, the most prominent of which was the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestine, brokered by the outgoing Biden administration. Investors look forward to the announcement of economic data next week in the US and going by the recent unemployment data, investors are pricing in a fall in inflation and other supportive data. In Europe, the French Prime Minister survived a ‘no confidence’ vote.

Global Updates

• The MSCI All Country World Index rose this week as investors eyed the most recent corporate earnings and gauged economic data to determine the path of Federal Reserve rate cuts.
• The core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy prices and is seen as a gauge of underlying inflation pressures, rose 0.2% month-over-month in December.
• Canadian housing starts fell 13% in December compared with the previous month as groundbreaking decreased on multiple-unit and single-family detached urban homes
• French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou passed the first test of his new minority government as he survived a vote of no-confidence called by the hard left after the centre-left Socialist Party did not back the motion.
• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a landmark 100-year partnership agreement to deepen security ties and strengthen their countries’ relationship.
• U.S. private equity fund Lone Star and Portuguese authorities are set to share 1.3 billion euros ($1.34 billion) when Novo Banco makes its first dividend payout in the coming months.
• British property surveyors reported the fastest rise in house prices since September 2022 in December and a continued increase in sales and new buyer enquiries, in contrast to the more mixed picture from some other housing market surveys.
• Malaysia’s economy grew 4.8% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, slowing from the 5.3% rate in the previous quarter as activity in the agriculture and mining sectors slowed.

U.S. Equity

• The S&P 500, Dow Jones index & Nasdaq indices were higher over the week.
• President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said the dollar should remain the world’s reserve currency, the Federal Reserve should stay independent and that he is ready to impose tougher sanctions on Russia’s oil sector.
• The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week but remained at levels consistent with a healthy labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ended Jan. 11.
• Boeing resumed testing for its long-delayed 777X widebody jet on Thursday, with the first flight since the U.S. planemaker grounded the test fleet in August due to the failure of a key engine mounting structure.
• U.S. automaker General Motors and its subsidiary OnStar agreed not to disclose sensitive vehicle geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies for five years
• Global diesel prices and refining margins spiked following the latest round of U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil trade on expectations the measures would tighten supplies.
• Homeowners in areas most at risk of damage from hurricanes, wildfires and other climate perils pay far more for insurance than those who live in the least exposed areas. Homeowners living in areas most at risk paid an average annual premium of $2,321, 82% higher than those who lived in areas least likely to be hit by damaging weather events.
• American Express will pay about $230 million to settle U.S. criminal and civil probes into alleged deceptive practices in selling credit card and wire transfer products to small business customers.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Amgen’s combination therapy to treat colorectal cancer in patients with a specific gene mutation. Amgen’s Lumakras, in combination with Vectibix, was approved to treat adult patients whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body despite receiving chemotherapy.

Fixed Income

• The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index rose during the week.
• The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.60%, and the yield on the 2-year note was in line at 4.22% over the week.
• The U.S. Dollar Index rose jumped to 109.11 this week.

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