On Friday, the three major U.S. stock indices fell, with the Dow and S&P 500 retreating from record highs. Philadelphia Fed President Paulson suggested room for further rate cuts, while former U.S. President Trump expressed a preference for Warsh or Hassett as the next Fed chair, emphasizing communication on interest rates. The S&P 500 dropped 0.63% this week, while the Nasdaq fell 1.62%. The Dow, however, gained 1.05% weekly.
**U.S. Stocks** At close, the Dow fell 245.96 points (0.51%) to 48,458.05; the Nasdaq dropped 398.69 points (1.69%) to 23,195.17; and the S&P 500 declined 73.59 points (1.07%) to 6,827.41. Tesla (TSLA.US) rose 2.7%, Nvidia (NVDA.US) fell 3.27%, Broadcom (AVGO.US) plunged 11.43%, and Apple (AAPL.US) edged up 0.09%.
**European Stocks** Germany’s DAX30 lost 100.81 points (0.42%) to 24,177.40; the UK’s FTSE 100 fell 62.26 points (0.64%) to 9,640.90; France’s CAC40 dipped 17.14 points (0.21%) to 8,068.62; and the Euro Stoxx 50 slid 36.01 points (0.63%) to 5,717.95.
**Asia-Pacific Stocks** Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9%, South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 0.59%, India’s BSE SENSEX rose 0.51%, and Indonesia’s Composite Index declined 0.92%.
**Forex & Crypto** The Bloomberg Dollar Index inched up less than 0.1% in thin trading but posted a weekly loss. Bitcoin fell over 2% to $90,352.04, while Ethereum dropped over 4%, slipping below $3,100.
**Precious Metals** Spot gold rose 0.47%, closing above $4,300 with a weekly gain of 2.49%. COMEX gold futures climbed 0.48% to $4,333.60/oz, up 2.14% weekly, peaking at $4,387.80 on Friday. Expectations of Fed rate cuts and geopolitical risks fueled demand.
**Oil** January WTI crude fell 0.28% to $57.44, while February Brent dropped 0.26% to $61.12/barrel.
**Macro Highlights** - Cleveland Fed President Mester favored a slightly restrictive stance to curb inflation, calling the current policy "roughly neutral." - The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield hit its highest since September at 4.86%, while the 2-year yield was flat weekly. - Nasdaq gained discretion to reject high-risk IPOs under new SEC rules. - Goldman Sachs projected S&P 500 at 7,600 by 2026, with tech giants driving nearly half the growth.
**Corporate News** Oracle (ORCL.US) denied reports of delays in OpenAI-related data center construction, reaffirming commitment to timelines.
**Ratings** UBS initiated coverage on Delta Air Lines (DAL.US) with a "Buy" rating and $90 target.
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