According to Zhitong Finance, on Friday, the three major indices rose, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 Index both ending a five-day consecutive decline. This week, all three major stock indices recorded drops, with the Dow Jones down 0.6%, the S&P 500 Index down 0.48%, and the Nasdaq down 0.51%.

[US Stocks] At the close, the Dow rose 339.86 points on Friday, an increase of 0.80%, closing at 42732.13 points; the Nasdaq rose 340.88 points, an increase of 1.77%, closing at 19621.68 points; the S&P 500 Index rose 73.92 points, an increase of 1.26%, closing at 5942.47 points. Tesla (TSLA.US) closed up 8.22%, NVIDIA (NVDA.US) rose 4.73%, Amazon (AMZN.US) rose 1.8%, Google A (GOOGL.US, GOOG.US) rose 1.25%, Microsoft (MSFT.US) rose 1.14%, Meta Platforms (META.US) rose 0.9%, while Apple (AAPL.US) closed down 0.2%.

[European Stocks] The German DAX30 Index fell 96.40 points, down 0.48%, closing at 19907.75 points; the UK FTSE100 Index fell 34.75 points, down 0.42%, closing at 8225.34 points; the France CAC40 Index fell 111.54 points, down 1.51%, closing at 7282.22 points; the Europe Stoxx 50 Index fell 46.63 points, down 0.95%, closing at 4871.25 points; the Spain IBEX35 Index fell 24.56 points, down 0.21%, closing at 11652.34 points; the Italy FTSE MIB Index fell 253.77 points, down 0.74%, closing at 34121.00 points.

[Asia-Pacific Stock Market] The Jakarta Composite Index in Indonesia rose 0.02%, and the KOSPI Index in South Korea rose 1.79%.

[Cryptos] Bitcoin rose over 1.4%, reaching $0.098 million; Ethereum rose 4.7%, closing at $3613.43.

[Gold] Spot Gold fell 0.70%, closing at $2639.24 per ounce, accumulating a rise of 0.72% this week. On December 31, at 00:21 Beijing time, it dropped to $2596.19, then fluctuated upward, rising to $2665.29 on January 3 at 11:27.

[Crude Oil] WTI Crude Oil February Futures closed up $0.83, an increase of 1.13%, at $73.96 per barrel, marking the highest closing price since October 11; Brent Crude Oil March Futures closed up $0.58, an increase of 0.76%, at $76.51 per barrel, reaching the highest closing price since October 14.

[Forex] ICE USD Index fell by 0.42%, reported at 108.932 points, with a cumulative increase of 0.74% this week, trading in a Range of 107.739-109.533 points. Bloomberg USD Index fell by 0.14%, reported at 1312.23 points, with a cumulative increase of 0.73% this week, trading in a Range of 1300.63-1316.17 points. USD against JPY fell by 0.12%, reported at 157.32 yen, with a cumulative decrease of 0.37% this week, trading in a Range of 158.07-156.02 yen.

[Metal] LME Copper Futures closed up $74, reported at $8876 per ton. LME Aluminum Futures closed down $36, reported at $2494 per ton. LME Zinc Futures closed down $39, reported at $2888 per ton. LME Lead Futures closed down $12, reported at $1923 per ton. LME Nickel Futures closed up $33, reported at $15111 per ton. LME Tin Futures closed up $551, reported at $29108 per ton. LME Cobalt Futures were flat, reported at $24300 per ton.

[Macroeconomic News]

The ISM Manufacturing PMI in the USA slightly increased in December. The ISM Manufacturing PMI in the USA rose for the second consecutive month in December, with Orders and Production both rebounding, indicating that the clouds hanging over the manufacturing industry may begin to dissipate. According to output Indicators, the resurgence in demand helped achieve the first month of production growth since May. Meanwhile, the survey showed that more manufacturers are laying off workers at a faster pace. The employment index fell to 45.3, down nearly 3 points, the largest drop since July last year. Among the five Indicators constituting the overall PMI, the remaining Indicators improved. Timothy Fiore, Chairman of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, stated, "Demand has improved, production performance has met the November levels and the companies' targets; layoffs are still ongoing but should end soon, with price growth being minimal."

Federal Reserve's Barkin: Positive outlook for 2025, no need for previous restrictive measures. In a prepared speech, Federal Reserve's Barkin expressed a positive basic expectation for 2025: "I expect the upside for economic growth to be greater than the downside." He added that the expectations for economic expansion might be the reason for the recent uplift in business optimism. Part of his optimistic outlook for the economy is due to his belief that the growth momentum in Consumer spending could help keep the economy healthy in the coming months. Barkin stated, "The current labor market balance is more likely to move towards hiring rather than layoffs because of high business optimism and the unlikely continued strong growth of labor supply." He also predicted that the more cost-conscious consumers emerging in recent months would pressure businesses to curb price increases, which should continue to lower inflation. However, he pointed out that inflation has not yet returned to the Federal Reserve's 2% target: "We still have work to do, but we believe there is no need to take the kind of restrictive measures we previously utilized to accomplish this."

Federal Reserve Governor Kugler is cautious about recent inflation 'ups and downs'. Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler stated that the USA economy ended 2024 on a strong note, and she hopes to see evidence indicating inflation is again on a downward track. "We saw an increase in the first quarter of 2024, and now inflation has risen again," Kugler stated in an interview on Friday. "We want to ensure that this is just a temporary phenomenon and not a more persistent one."

Republicans in the USA re-elected Johnson as House Speaker amid intra-party dissent. House Speaker Johnson was re-elected as Speaker of the House on Friday with a narrow margin, highlighting fractures among the Republican Party led by President Trump in Congress. In a nearly two-hour-long first ballot voting, Johnson seemed not to have secured the majority votes needed to retain his position. However, after extensive negotiations, two Republican opponents changed their voting stance to support him. At least one reportedly received a call from Trump himself. Johnson ultimately won re-election with the minimum requirement of 218 votes. The Republicans currently control the House with a slim majority of 219-215. After the voting concluded, Johnson vowed to extend the 2017 tax cuts set to expire this year by Trump and reduce regulations. He said, "We will significantly cut the size and scope of government." Other pressing major challenges include addressing the USA's over $36 trillion debt issue, which Congress needs to take action on later this year.

[Individual Stock News]

Microsoft (MSFT.US) announced an investment of 80 billion USD in AI datacenters for the fiscal year 2025. According to foreign media, Microsoft indicated in a blog post on Friday that it will invest 80 billion USD in AI datacenters for the fiscal year 2025. Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith stated that more than half of Microsoft's 80 billion USD expenditure will be allocated to the USA. Microsoft's fiscal year 2025 will end in June this year.

Flight long delays lead to the US Department of Transportation imposing a 2 million USD fine on JetBlue Airways (JBLU.US). The US Department of Transportation imposed a 2 million USD fine on JetBlue Airways due to long delays on four domestic flights within the USA. This is the first fine imposed by the US Department of Transportation on an airline for this prohibited flight scheduling behavior. The US Department of Transportation stated that as part of an agreement reached with JetBlue Airways, JetBlue will pay 1 million USD in fines to the US Department of Transportation, and the remaining fine will be used to compensate customers affected by its long-delayed flights or future flights.

Japan Iron and Steel plans to file a lawsuit regarding the blocked transaction with United States Steel. According to reports, Japan Iron and Steel intends to take legal action over the blocked transaction with United States Steel; the source of the report was not disclosed. It was reported that Japan Iron and Steel does not oppose Biden's decision itself, but focuses on the 'deficiencies' in the CFIUS decision-making process, which Biden's decision is based upon. Japan Iron and Steel and United States Steel stated in a joint announcement that they 'have no choice but to take all appropriate actions to protect our legal rights.'

[Major Banks Rating]

Truist Securities has lowered the Target Price for Tesla (TSLA.US) from 360 USD to 351 USD.