Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Market leftovers
U.S. stocks will have a shortened trading day Friday after the market was closed Thursday for Thanksgiving. Equities fell entering the holiday, as some investors appeared to trim their stakes in major tech names. Still, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are hovering shy of all-time highs. Wednesday offered some fresh clues about the policy path ahead for the Federal Reserve, as year-over-year inflation of 2.3% matched expectations and the central bank’s latest meeting minutes indicated it plans to gradually cut interest rates if price increases continue to moderate. Follow live market updates.
2. Ho-hum holiday?
3. A red and blue Christmas
4. India’s growth slows
India’s economic expansion moderated during the country’s fiscal second quarter. Its economy grew by 5.4% during the period, below expectations and the slowest in nearly two years. Economists expect activity in the world’s most populous country will continue to moderate in 2025.
5. DOGE goes to Washington
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are leading Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, will meet with Republican congressional leaders on Dec. 5. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said lawmakers plan to “discuss major reform ideas to achieve regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions, and cost savings” with the pair of entrepreneurs. While Musk and Ramaswamy have proposed massive cuts to the federal workforce and even the elimination of entire agencies, it remains to be seen how much influence they will have.
– CNBC’s Alex Harring, Melissa Repko, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Lim Hui Jie, Matt Clinch and Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
