Bonds & Stocks
Wall Street kicked off a busy week on a cautious note, with stocks and bonds wavering while the dollar slid on speculation the US could coordinate intervention with Japan to support the yen. Gold topped $5,000. While the S&P 500 is set for a January advance, traders refrained from making big moves ahead of high-stakes megacap results.
Economy
Business investment appears on track to post another solid reading in the fourth quarter. Aircraft orders provided a significant boost to November’s headline durable goods, but core orders also surprised to the upside. Passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last July, which permanently restored bonus depreciation as a tax incentive, has likely supported capex, more than offsetting uncertainty related to the government shutdown.
World
Days after Japanese bonds crashed, sending tremors through global financial markets, traders were still stunned by the speed and breadth of it all. A quarter-point surge in yields “in a single session,” marveled Pramol Dhawan, a fund manager at Pacific Investment Management Co., “let that sink in.”