Bonds & Stocks
The final stretch of a jittery week for markets saw a renewed tech rally leading stocks higher while traders braced for the expiration of a record pile of options that threatens to trigger sudden price swings. Bitcoin rallied. Bonds fell. Equities extended gains into a second straight day, with the S&P 500 almost wiping out its drop for the week. The market has swung sharply in recent days amid heightened volatility in artificial-intelligence names while traders parsed the scope for further Federal Reserve rate cuts. Fed Bank of New York President John Williams told CNBC there’s no urgency to further adjust rates, and recent employment and inflation data did little to change his outlook.
Economy
Existing-home sales in the US barely rose in November, with contract closings ticking up 0.5% to an annual rate of 4.13 million. The median sales price increased 1.2% from a year ago to $409,200, one of the weakest gains since mid-2023. The supply of previously owned homes on the market fell to 1.43 million, with inventory equivalent to 4.2 months’ supply, the weakest since March.
World
European Union leaders agreed to loan Ukraine €90 billion for the next two years to strengthen Kyiv's hand at the negotiating table and keep the war-torn country afloat. The EU will fund the loan through joint debt raised on the capital markets and backed by the bloc's budget, with Ukraine not needing to repay the loan until Moscow compensates Kyiv with reparations. The decision came after marathon talks at a summit in Brussels, with EU leaders under intense pressure to agree to the loan after months of talks failed to break the deadlock over the plan to use Russian assets frozen on European soil.