On today's podcast:
1) US forces intercepted and seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a serious escalation of tensions between the two countries. A senior Trump administration official referred to the ship as âa stateless vesselâ that was last docked in Venezuela. Bloomberg News was first to report the seizure. The US action may make it much harder for Venezuela to export its crude, as other shippers are now likely to be more reluctant to load its cargoes. Most of the nationâs oil goes to China, usually through intermediaries, at steep discounts owing to sanctions risk. Brent futures edged higher after the news.
2) A coalition of Ukraineâs allies will discuss a bid to move swiftly on President Trumpâs peace proposal on Thursday as Kyivâs forces carried out their first-ever attack on Russian Caspian Sea oil production. Leaders from more than 30 countries that are part of the so-called coalition of the willing group will hold a virtual meeting, their second this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address. Allies will discuss the state of peace talks and the latest draft plan that Ukrainian officials sent to Washington overnight, people familiar with the planning said. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are expected to brief participants on an exchange they had with Trump on Wednesday.
3) A market party after the Federal Reserveâs policy decision came to an abrupt halt within hours as a plunge in Oracle Corp.âs shares reawakened concerns over tech-stock valuations. Now investors are left to ponder whether they will still get a Christmas rally. The MSCI All Country World Index had been a whisker away from its peak before changing course, while gold snapped what would have been a three-day winning streak. The earlier gains were a reflection of enthusiasm following the Fedâs latest interest rate cut and Chair Jerome Powellâs upbeat assessment of the US economy. The upbeat mood faded after Oracleâs stock plunged on the companyâs below-consensus sales and spending increase that rekindled worries over tech sharesâ expensive valuations. That caused Nasdaq futures to slump as much as 1.6% and 10-year Treasury yields to drop by three basis points at one point.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
