Nasdaq adds nearly 1% as tech shares build on Wednesday gains.
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U.K. Retail Sales Rose Unexpectedly Over Christmas
Households might have enjoyed some relief after the budget in November, in which the government avoided raising income taxes and outlined plans to reduce household energy bills.
The People’s Bank of China set the strongest reference rate for the currency in almost three years.
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Trump Administration Pushes Out Key Officials Focused on China Tech Threat
The departing staffers worked for a Commerce Department office charged with protecting the U.S. from Chinese technological advances.
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Bank of Japan Keeps Rates at 30-Year High as It Gauges Impact of Last Hike
The Bank of Japan’s first meeting of the year took place against a dramatic backdrop of bond market gyrations, worries about government policies and a volatile yen.
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Natural-Gas Prices Soar as U.S. Braces for Arctic Blast
A big concern is Texas, where cold temperatures threaten to ice oil-and-gas fields and wreak havoc on the power grid.
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Japan’s Consumer Inflation Cooled in Last Month of 2025
Consumer prices rose at a slower pace, reflecting the Japanese government’s measures and the peaking of food inflation.
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Why Gold’s Rally Could Take the Shine Off U.S. Stocks
Gold is up nearly 12% this year, trouncing the S&P 500. Gavekal Research says that could push investors toward non-U.S. equities and equal-weight strategies.
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Trump Vows ‘Big Retaliation’ as ‘Sell America’ List Grows
Denmark’s AkademikerPension fund is unloading all of its Treasury debt. The the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan scaled back its holdings early last year.
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Alarm Over Trump’s Greenland Threat Gives Way to Uncertainty Around Future Deal
There was little clarity about what would happen next after the president made an abrupt reversal in his push to take control of the Danish island.
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Venezuela Unveils Oil Bill to Attract Investors, Lift Output
Oil analysts said the reform would help foreign companies already in Venezuela but falls short of President Trump’s plans to attract big investments.
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Japan’s Takaichi Runs the Risk of Provoking the Bond Vigilantes
With debt running at 200% of GDP, unfunded tax cuts could be a problem. Still, the PM is very popular, and Japan is a creditor nation with a currency that is seemingly fated to rebound.
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PCE Inflation Meets Expectations. The Fed Is Likely to Hold Rates Next Week.
The reading likely will reinforce policymakers’ cautious stance on rate cuts.
A revised set of figures continued to show that U.S. economic growth powered ahead last summer, confirming an upswing that had surprised analysts in December.
Commercial crude oil stocks rose last week by 3.6 million barrels as refineries ran at a slower rate, said the Energy Information Administration.
