Tech-led U.S. rally amid Fed clarity
Key Points
- Miran's comment has reduced near-term Fed governance uncertainty and has lowered short-dated risk premia, supporting U.S. risk assets.
- Positive AI developments and Oracle (ORCL) and Nvidia (NVDA) news have bolstered technology leadership and have driven gains in U.S. benchmarks in the holiday-shortened session.
- China left short- and medium-term loan prime rates unchanged, which has kept the CNY steady and has tempered commodity demand and miner activity.
- Gold and silver have reached fresh highs, which has boosted commodity and miner exposures while several mining and industrial transactions have completed or been announced.
Global Market Summary
U.S. benchmarks closed higher in a holiday-shortened session as technology leadership and positive AI developments supported gains: SPX rose 0.61% and ^IXIC gained 0.51%. European markets were mixed, with FRA40 down 0.37%, UKX down 0.32% and DAX roughly flat at -0.02%. Asia finished mostly higher led by NKY which climbed 1.81%, while HSI rose 0.43% and 000001.SS added 0.69%.
Top Movers
Strongest sectors: XLF (0.88%), XLI (0.73%) and VGT (0.65%). Weakness concentrated in XLP (-1.25%), VNQ (-0.46%) and XLU (-0.34%). Notable single-stock moves included AAOI (+24.79%), ABVX (+20.88%), AXIA-P (-23.79%) and EWTX (-18.32%).
Macro highlights
China left the 1-year LPR at 3.0% and the 5-year LPR at 3.5%, a status-quo decision that kept the CNY steady and tempered commodity demand. Spain's October balance of trade narrowed to €-4.69B from €-6.0B, and the Chicago Fed national activity index for September improved to -0.21 from -0.31, a smaller negative reading that provided modest support to risk assets.
News that moved markets
Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran said he would likely remain on the Board past his January 31 term end if a successor is not confirmed, a comment markets read as reducing near-term Fed governance uncertainty and lowering short-dated risk premia. U.S. equities rallied in a holiday-shortened session as technology strength, lifted by positive developments for Oracle (ORCL) and Nvidia (NVDA), supported gains while gold and silver reached fresh highs, boosting commodity and miner exposures. Several completed transactions were reported, including Xali Gold's completion of the acquisition of the Pico Machay gold deposit, Zeekr Group's completion of a merger, Sword Group's sale of Tipik to mci group, and Copper Quest's acquisition of the Alpine gold mine and appointment of a new director. Announced deals included Howmet Aerospace's plan to acquire Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing from Stanley Black & Decker for approximately $1.8 billion and other announced acquisitions across mining, industrials and wealth-management.
Upcoming session watchlist
- AU RBA Meeting Minutes — Dec 23, 12:30 AM | Provides details on monetary policy deliberations and guidance.
- US GDP Growth Rate QoQ (Q3, 2nd Est) — forecast 3.2% vs 3.8% prior, Dec 23, 01:30 PM | Provides a second estimate of Q3 GDP growth and economic momentum.
- US Durable Goods Orders MoM (OCT) — forecast -0.3% vs 0.5% prior, Dec 23, 01:30 PM | Indicates monthly manufacturing and capital spending demand trends.
Key Takeaways
- U.S. benchmarks closed higher in a holiday-shortened session as technology leadership and AI developments supported gains.
- European markets finished mixed while Asia mostly rose, led by a sizable gain in Japan's Nikkei.
- Gold and silver reached fresh highs and commodity and miner exposures strengthened as multiple mining deals were completed or announced.
- Sectors were split: financials, industrials and tech outperformed while staples, REITs and utilities underperformed.
References
- 1. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/feds-miran-says-hell-likely-stay-after-term-ends-until-his-seat-is-filled-2025-12-22/
- 2. https://apnews.com/article/2f4b6d50e2f78610550b054e4eb007eb
- 3. https://x.com/VP/status/2002932897477800442
- 4. https://x.com/USTreasury/status/2003195745474900410
- 5. https://x.com/Barchart/status/2002916924624433247
- 6. https://x.com/Barchart/status/2002965147984544136
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- 11. https://x.com/Barchart/status/2003183861992423451
- 12. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/22/china-lpr-1-year-5-year-property-market-weak-economic-data-.html
- 13. https://x.com/Barchart/status/2002952047982006605
- 14. https://x.com/Barchart/status/2003198217123455355
- 15. https://x.com/Barchart/status/2002972661216161864
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