Bonds& Stocks
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% after the latest data largely met expectations. The benchmark is on pace for an eight-week winning streak — the longest in more than five years. The Nasdaq 100 is ready to notch a similar run. Swaps traders are betting interest rates will be eased by as much as 155 basis points next year, double the Fed’s forecast. Data showing the US core personal consumption expenditures price index — the Fed’s preferred core inflation metric — fell to 3.2% last month, helped cement those bets. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted the gauge would slip to 3.3% in November.
Economy
The Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation barely rose in November and trailed policymakers’ 2% target in a six-month measure, reinforcing the central bank’s pivot toward interest-rate cuts next year. The so-called core personal consumption expenditures price index, which strips out the volatile food and energy components, increased 0.1% from a month earlier after a downwardly revised 0.1% gain in October, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. From a year ago, the Fed’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation advanced 3.2%.
World
Tencent Holdings Ltd. led an $80 billion selloff in some of China’s biggest online names, after the surprise imposition of new gaming curbs revived fears Beijing may again be targeting the country’s giant internet sector. The top gaming regulator on Friday published draft rules broadly designed to clamp down on practices that encourage players to spend more money and time online. They encompassed caps on the amount each player can spend within a game, a ban on rewards for frequent log-ins and forced player-duels, even a prohibition on content that violates national security.