From Nasdaq:

Asia-Pacific equity markets finished lower today, apart from Taiwan’s TAIEX. South Korea’s KOSPI, Australia’s ASX All Ordinaries, India’s SENSEX, China’s Shanghai Composite, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng all closed lower. Japan’s markets were closed today for “Coming of Age Day.” European markets also trended lower. U.S. equity futures point to a lower open, with Nasdaq 100 futures slightly positive. Last week’s sobering stock market experience was influenced by better-than-expected economic data, pushing back on market expectations for six rate cuts in 2024. December brought rapid-fire market events, including inflation data, Fed speakers, bank earnings, and conferences. Oil prices are lower following Saudi Arabia’s announcement of crude price cuts and voluntary product cuts of 2 million barrels per day through 1Q 2024. Factory orders in Germany rose by 0.3% MoM in November. Retail sales in the Euro Area dropped by 0.3% MoM in November, with annual sales falling by 1.1%. The economic sentiment indicator in the Euro Area rose to 96.4 in December, as confidence improved in all sectors despite an uptick in inflation expectations. The gauge for selling price expectations among Eurozone manufacturers rose to 3.2 in December 2023. At 3 PM ET, November Consumer Credit will be published, with a consensus forecast of $9 billion added during the month. Congressional leaders have reached a $1.59 trillion bipartisan federal spending deal for the current fiscal year. VantageScore found many lower-tier credit consumers financially stretched at the end of 2023. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan commented on the risk of inflation picking back up if sufficiently tight financial conditions are not maintained. Equities ended last week with most sectors finishing ahead, led by Financials and Communications Services. Airline stocks reacted positively to flight cancellations reaching record lows. The Dow rose 0.07%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.09%, and the S&P 500 added 0.18%, while the Russell 2000 gave back 0.34%. Boeing (BA) shares are under significant pressure as the FAA orders certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes to be grounded after a midflight depressurization incident on Friday. December revenue at Acer (ACEYY) came in at NT$ 23.69 billion, up 17.8% MoM and 3.5% YoY. Nvidia (NVDA) plans to begin mass production in the second quarter of 2024 of an AI chip designed for China to comply with U.S. export rules. The 26th Annual ICR Conference will kick off later today and run through January 10 with more than 250 public and private companies presenting. Reports indicate BlackRock (BLK) plans to announce layoffs of about 3% of its global workforce. Shares of NuScale Power (SMR) tumbled on Friday after the HuffPost reported the company laid off as much as 40% of its workforce. Merck (MRK) is reportedly in advanced talks to buy immuno-oncology company Harpoon Therapeutics (HARP) for around $700 million or about $23 per share. Homebuilder Smith Douglas Homes (SDHC) and Amer Sports (AS) are on watch to price their respective IPOs. Accolate (ACCD) and Jefferies (JEF) are on the docket to report quarterly results after equities stop trading today. Germany, Eurozone, and US economic data are scheduled to be released throughout the week.



Read more: Daily Markets: Inflation Data, Fed Speakers, Two Big Conferences, and Bank Earnings Begin