Wall Street staged a modest recovery on Friday, closing the week with reduced losses. The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, trimming its weekly loss to 2%, while the Dow added 498 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq gained 1%. Tech stocks, led by Nvidia, were the driving force behind the rebound. The core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, a key inflation measure, came in slightly below expectations, lifting sentiment after Federal Reserve warnings earlier in the week dampened hopes for significant rate cuts in 2024.
Despite Friday’s rally, markets remain wary, with analysts noting heightened risks heading into the new year.
In Washington, the US Senate passed a bill to end a brief government shutdown that began after a missed midnight deadline. The legislation extends funding until mid-March, provides $100bn for disaster relief, and allocates $10bn to farmers. Debates over debt ceilings and fiscal priorities are likely to loom large for 2024.
Closer to home, the ASX narrowly avoided a Monday trading delay following a major issue with its CHESS settlement system. Engineers worked through the weekend to resolve the problem, which had disrupted the settlement of millions of trades from mid-week. The ASX announced late Sunday that trading will proceed as scheduled.
The Australian dollar is buying 62.58 US cents, 59.99 Euro cents and 97.87 Yen.
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.16% or 13 point rise.
