Bonds & Stocks
A day after the Federal Reserve decided to hold rates steady saw traders shifting their focus back to Corporate America, with stocks wavering amid a slew of results. Small moves in bonds and the dollar contrasted with a surge in commodities from gold to oil.
Economy
The US trade deficit widened in November from the lowest level since 2009 as imports rebounded and exports fell, highlighting wide monthly swings in response to the Trump administration’s vacillating tariffs. The goods and services trade gap nearly doubled from the prior month to $56.8 billion, Commerce Department data showed Thursday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for a $44 billion deficit.
World
Chinese investors are piling into metals as they ride a powerful wave of momentum that has lifted everything from tin to silver to record highs. Copper surged by the most in more than 16 years as metals extended a dramatic start to the year fueled by a wave of intense speculative trading in China.