Real-time News

The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 5 earthquake 24 kilometers south of Merizzo village, Guam.

The four-week moving average of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending December 20 was 216,750, compared with 217,500 the previous week.

The number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment benefits for the week ending December 13 was 1.923 million, compared with an expected 1.9 million and a revised 1.885 million for the previous week (originally reported as 1.897 million).

Moscow Mayor: Yet another drone bound for Moscow has been destroyed. Emergency responders are working at the crash site.

French President Emmanuel Macron: I just met with Thierry Breton. I thank him for his enormous contributions to Europe. We will never compromise; we will defend the independence of Europe and the freedom of Europeans.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that a terrorist attack was thwarted at a Russian oil pipeline company facility in Tyumen Oblast.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen: We are proud of this. We will protect it.

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%.