Ukraine debt settlement lifts markets

December 24, 2025 at 21:00 UTC

4 min read

Ukraine debt settlement impact with rising U.S. equities charts and $2.6B figure highlighted

Key Points

Ukraine's $2.6B growth-linked debt settlement removed a contingent liability and supported modest positive moves.
Waymo's fleetwide software updates and tightened emergency protocols were linked to reported gains in Alphabet shares.
Sanofi (SANp) announced plans to acquire Dynavax, adding a marketed adult hepatitis B vaccine and a Phase 1/2 shingles candidate to its pipeline.
U.S. medium-importance calendar items had no reported actuals, so the releases did not provide a clear market catalyst.

Global Market Summary

U.S. equities closed higher: the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 0.60%, the S&P 500 (SPX) gained 0.32% and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added 0.22% as investors digested corporate headlines and sovereign‐debt developments. European markets were mixed, with the FTSE (UKX) down 0.19% and the CAC 40 (FRA40) essentially flat (-0.00%), while in Asia Shanghai's SSE (000001.SS) rose 0.53% and the Hang Seng (HSI) gained 0.17% as the Nikkei (NKY) slipped 0.14%.

Top Movers

Consumer-defensive ETF XLP led sector gains, up 0.79%, while energy XLE lagged, down 0.29%. Real estate VNQ (+0.66%) and communication services XLC (+0.60%) were among other stronger sector performers. Notable stock movers included EWTX (+25.50%), PSNYW (+15.63%) and TVTX (+13.91%), while ASTS (-8.89%) and HYMC (-8.03%) were the largest decliners.

Macro highlights

The U.S. calendar listed several medium‐importance items including Initial Jobless Claims (ref DEC/20; consensus 225K, forecast 226.0K) and EIA weekly inventory updates (previous crude -1.274M), but the dataset contains no reported actuals so these releases did not provide a clear market catalyst. MBA 30‐Year Mortgage Rate (previous 6.38%) also appeared on the schedule.

News that moved markets

Ukraine completed settlement of $2.6 billion of growth‐linked debt; the dataset notes the move removed a contingent liability and improved sovereign risk perceptions, supporting modest positive moves in related instruments. Waymo said it will deploy fleetwide software updates and tighten emergency protocols after a San Francisco outage, a development the dataset links to reported gains in Alphabet shares (GOOG, GOOGL). Sanofi (SANp) announced plans to acquire Dynavax, adding a marketed adult hepatitis B vaccine and a Phase 1/2 shingles candidate to its pipeline. Crown Brands Group announced the acquisition of intimates brand Hanky Panky.

Upcoming session watchlist

RU Unemployment Rate (NOV) — consensus 2.2% vs 2.2% prior, Dec 26, 04:00 PM | Indicates labor market strength and trends in joblessness.
RU Business Confidence (DEC) — forecast -2 vs -1.8 prior, Dec 26, 04:00 PM | Reflects firms' sentiment and expectations for near-term demand.

Key Takeaways

U.S. equities closed higher as investors digested corporate headlines and sovereign-debt developments, with the Dow and S&P 500 (SPX) leading.
Consumer-defensive ETF XLP led sector gains (up 0.79%), while energy XLE lagged (down 0.29%); VNQ and XLC were among stronger sector performers.
Notable individual movers included EWTX (+25.50%), PSNYW (+15.63%) and TVTX (+13.91%); ASTS (-8.89%) and HYMC (-8.03%) were the largest decliners.
Corporate and sovereign news drove session moves: Ukraine's settlement improved risk perceptions, Waymo's update was linked to Alphabet gains, and Sanofi (SANp) announced the Dynavax deal.