Global markets ended lower this week weighed down by profit seeking selloffs by investors. American equities registered negative returns for the week, whereas European equities gained. Retail and production data reflects a mixed picture for global economic activity. Increased factory activity in China raised oil futures. Tesla annual sales dropped in the fourth quarter due to fierce competition from China

Global Updates
  • The MSCI All Country World Index significantly underperformed this week due to profit seeking selloffs at the year-end. On the other hand, European equities index STOXX 600, gained over the week.
  • France’s factory activity contracted in December as reflected by the fall in its HCOB final purchasing manager index (PMI) from 43.1 in November to 41.9 in December. The Caixin manufacturing PMI registered at 50.5 in December indicating expansion in factory activity. 
  • The Bank of England allocated a record $57.49 billion to its first short term repo in 2025.
  • U.K.-based British Retail Consortium reported a 2.2% drop in annual footfall and 2.5% drop in quarterly footfall for British retailers, indicating a country-wide economic slowdown. China also reported a 29.3% drop in duty-free spending at Hainan in 2024.  
  • House prices in the U.K. rose by a higher-than-expected 0.7% month-over-month in December.
  • South Korean officials have ordered the inspection of Boeing’s 737-800 aircraft after a Jeju Air Boeing 737 crashed in South Korea, killing 179 people. Jeju Air stock fell after the crash. The plane engine manufacturer, GE, will also join the investigation. 
  • Hyundai Motor and Kia Motor missed their global sales targets and plan to raise the sales by 2% in 2025.
  • China has included 28 U.S. based entities to its export control list in the interest of national security.
  • Brent Crude futures rose by 1.7% to $75.93 spurred by the expansion in the manufacturing sector in China and the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s promise of proactive actions to promote growth.
U.S. Equity
  • The S&P 500, Dow Jones index & Nasdaq indices dipped this week as the year-end profit seeking persisted through the week. All three indices registered large gains over the year but also recorded poor monthly performance for December.
  • Tesla’s stock dropped after the company reported a decline in the year-on-year delivery numbers in the fourth quarter of 2024, weighed down by strong competition from China, low demand and an economic slowdown.
  • Shares of Boeing fell after a 737-800 crashed on landing in South Korea, killing 179 people. 
  • Apple stock lagged following reports of the company settling a privacy violation case for $95 million. The company also discounted its iPhone models to compete with domestic brands in China. 
  • President Joe Biden has decided to officially block the proposed $14.9 billion sale of U.S Steel to Nippon Steel.
  • Neumora Therapeutics stock lagged after the failure of its depression drug in Phase 3 trials.
  • Palladyne AI stock gained following reported a successful demonstration of its technology in tracking a moving target. 
  • Nuclear energy stocks trended upwards following the announcement of a $480 million 10-year electricity supply contract between U.S. General Services Administration and Constellation Energy (CEG)
  • Stocks of solar equipment providers First Solar and Enphase Energy gained due to a Tesla report of record installation of energy storage equipment in the past quarter.
  •  BeyondTrust stock dropped after Chinese hackers accessed the company’s software in the U.S. Treasury Department. 
  • Synaptics stock gained following the announcement of its artificial intelligence collaboration with Alphabet.
Fixed Income
  • The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index rose marginally this week.
  • The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.547% and the yield on the 2-year note fell to 4.235% over the week. 
  • The U.S. dollar Index jumped to 109.11 this week.

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