WEEKLY BUSINESS ROUNDUP
Global Business Week: Visualizing the Semiconductor Supply Chain
The state of Financial markets & Economies, Weekly Charts, Business Trends & Statistics
U.S equities closed ahead of the Christmas break with a bang, with the S&P 500 carving out a new high. Investors remained optimistic on the latest economic data and some anxiety over the impact of the Omicron COVID variant on global economies was tamped down. Recent approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Pfizer & Merck’s antiviral pill bode well for the investors’ confidence. Brent crude futures snapped a three-day rally on Friday on light trading but ended the week higher. At the end of the four-session week, the S&P closed at an all-time high of 4,725.72, while the Dow ended just a bit short of 36K. For the year, the S&P 500 has posted 35 new 52-week highs and the Nasdaq Composite has recorded 62 new highs.
Stingy inflation has caused a shift in the monetary policy tempo through the second half of 2022. This has generally meant gains for the benchmark dollar index (DXY). This has especially been evident in periods of extreme risk aversion where the Greenback shifts into the more rudimentary role of acting as a safe-haven currency. For now, the index has been unable to overtake the…
