WEEKLY BUSINESS ROUNDUP

Global Business Week: 10 Companies That Own Everything You Buy

The state of Financial markets & Economies, Weekly Charts, Business Trends & Statistics

Stocks experienced a predominantly downward trend on Friday, influenced by scrutiny of the initial batch of fourth-quarter earnings and key inflation reports. Despite a surprising decline in producer price inflation offering a glimmer of optimism during the session, this positivity was somewhat overshadowed by surging oil prices and declines in the shares of airline companies and health insurers. The banking sector also drew attention due to a flurry of earnings releases.

Notably, two-year Treasury yields plummeted to their lowest levels since May, marking a 24 basis points drop for the week. This unexpected dip in producer prices countered trader pessimism stemming from an earlier unexpected rise in consumer prices. The weekly performance saw the Dow Jones inching up by 0.3%, the S&P 500 gaining 1.8%, and the Nasdaq surging by 3.1%.

The US Dollar Index faced downward pressure, reaching as low as 102.20 amid weak Producer Price Index (PPI) data from December but later recovered towards 102.40. After these readings, US bond yields are decreasing, and there is an increased…