Real-time News

Market news: Goldbod, the Ghanaian gold refining company, has exceeded its 2025 gold export target of 100 tons.

U.S. natural gas futures fell more than 3.00% on the day, currently trading at $3.779 per million British thermal units.

December 24th - According to sources close to the Kremlin, Russia will demand key revisions to the latest version of the US-proposed peace plan for Ukraine, including imposing more restrictions on the Kyiv military. Moscow considers the 20-point plan reached between Ukraine and the US merely a starting point for further negotiations, as it lacks clauses crucial to Russia and fails to address many issues. Putin has not yet publicly commented on this latest proposal. Kremlin spokesman Peskov stated that Russian envoy Dmitriev, who met with the US team in Florida last weekend, has briefed President Putin on the results of the consultations, and Moscow will soon continue to communicate its position to Washington.

The French CAC40 index closed unchanged at 8103.58 points on Wednesday, December 24; the Spanish IBEX35 index closed down 6.52 points, or 0.04%, at 17174.58 points on Wednesday, December 24.

Two sources said that due to terminal maintenance delays, the Caspian Pipeline Alliance (CPC) has reduced its December loading of blended crude oil by 33% from initial plans to 1.14 million barrels per day.

Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov: There are currently no plans to arrange a phone call between Putin and Trump.

According to reports, Russian oil transport company Transneft expects its oil shipments to remain stable in 2026.

The UK FTSE 100 index closed down 25.29 points, or 0.26%, at 9863.93 on Wednesday, December 24.

Argus Research: Raises its price target for U.S. Bancorp (USB.N) from $52 to $62.

Ukraine claims the debt swap offer has been successfully settled.

On December 24th, Barclays economists stated in a research report that the Federal Reserve is likely to view the unexpected acceleration in US GDP in the third quarter as a sign that underlying demand remains strong. While volatile components such as net exports may exaggerate the overall growth momentum, continued expansion in consumer spending demonstrates fundamental resilience. Economists noted that although economic performance may fluctuate in the first half of 2025, aggregate demand has accumulated significant momentum by year-end. Based on this, Barclays slightly raised its forecast for fourth-quarter GDP year-on-year growth by approximately 0.3 percentage points to 2.0%.

The MBA Mortgage Purchase Index for the week ending December 19 was 169.9, compared to 176.5 the previous week.

The MBA mortgage application activity index in the United States for the week ending December 19 was 299.8, compared with 315.6 in the previous week.

The MBA 30-year fixed mortgage rate in the U.S. for the week ending December 19 was 6.31%, compared to 6.38% previously.

The Ukrainian military has attacked the Yefremov synthetic rubber plant in Russia's Tula region.

December 24: Building materials transaction volume was 95,900 tons, an increase of 7.87% compared to the previous trading day. December 23: Building materials transaction volume was 88,900 tons, a decrease of 18.74% compared to the previous trading day. December 22: Building materials transaction volume was 109,400 tons, an increase of 16.14% compared to the previous trading day. December 19: Building materials transaction volume was 94,200 tons, a decrease of 7.83% compared to the previous trading day. December 18: Building materials transaction volume was 102,200 tons, an increase of 2.71% compared to the previous trading day. Last week's average: Building materials transaction volume was 9,926 tons.

Netflix (NFLX.O): TRC Capital has offered to acquire 1.25 million Netflix shares at $91 per share. Shareholders are urged to reject TRC's mini-takeover offer.

December 24th - According to Ukrainian media reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine hopes to have a specific timeline for joining the European Union, claiming that this is the true guarantee of Ukraine's security. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine and the United States have discussed a specific timeline for Ukraine's EU accession, but this timeline has not yet been confirmed by the EU. "We hope to have a specific timeline for joining the EU; this is the true guarantee of Ukraine's security. We believe the United States supports this."