Real-time News

According to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as of the week ending December 2, COMEX gold speculators increased their net long positions by 11,832 contracts to 119,808 contracts.

Market news: Archer Aviation, an American electric aircraft development company, is pushing forward with the launch of air taxi trials in major U.S. cities, in accordance with a White House executive order.

Market sources say Comcast valued Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (WBD.O)'s media business at $81 billion.

Sources say the Federal Reserve has notified Citigroup that the regulatory notice that previously required the bank to improve its counterparty risk management has been formally closed.

U.S. natural gas futures extended gains in after-sales trading, rising 5%, as gas flows to liquefied natural gas export facilities approached record highs and demand was expected to increase further next week.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is working with Beta Technologies and industry partners to develop a national strategy for advanced air mobility.

Intel (INTC.O) fell 3%.

Rheinmetall of Germany: Has decided to initiate the sale process of its civilian division, with a target of completing the sale in the first quarter of 2026. The company's outlook for fiscal year 2025 is an operating margin of 18.5% to 19% and revenue growth of 30% to 35%.

On December 18th, Nvidia (NVDA.O) reached a settlement with a German subsidiary of Paris-based automotive parts supplier Valeo Group, ending a lawsuit involving trade secrets related to autonomous driving technology. In 2021, a Valeo engineer joined Nvidia while the two companies were collaborating on a technology project for Mercedes-Benz. According to a lawsuit filed by Valeo in 2023, during a video conference, Valeo employees discovered Valeo's source code files displayed on the engineer's screen and took a screenshot before he closed the window. In earlier court filings, Nvidia denied using the stolen data to develop its own automated parking assistance technology and stated that it had "rolled back" all work the engineer had done on the project and dismissed him.

Hang Seng Index futures closed down 0.57% at 25,304 points in overnight trading, a discount of 165 points.

Dallas Fed Energy Survey: Oil and gas production remained largely unchanged in the fourth quarter.

On December 18th, Italian Prime Minister Meloni reiterated in parliament on December 17th that Italy would not send troops to Ukraine, even if a multinational European force were formed. Meloni stated that Italy would continue to support Ukraine because its collapse would directly impact European security. She also called for caution in using frozen Russian assets and expressed Italy's support for continuing the freeze on Russian assets.

Tesla (TSLA.O) fell 3.2%, after rising 3% in the previous trading session.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he had approved the largest natural gas deal in the history of Israel and Egypt.

The Federal Reserve accepted a total of $10.361 billion from 17 counterparties in its fixed-rate reverse repurchase operations.

Denmark, the rotating presidency of the European Parliament, announced that the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have reached a provisional agreement on the EU-Mercosur (Mercosur-European Market).

According to two sources, Carlyle Group has hired Goldman Sachs to advise it on its bid for some of Lukoil's assets.

The yield on the 20-year U.S. Treasury note fell slightly after the auction, last quoted at 4.787%.