Overnight US stocks | “Santa Claus Market” opens! The three major stock indexes rose sharply, and gold and silver reached new highs, and crude oil rebounded

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on Monday, the three major indices rose sharply. Gold and silver both hit record highs, and platinum is also nearing record highs. Gold and silver mining stocks also generally rose. Oil prices rose more than 2%.

[US stocks] At the close, the Dow rose 227.79 points, or 0.47%, to 48362.68 points; the NASDAQ rose 121.21 points, or 0.52%, to 23428.83 points; the S&P 500 rose 43.99 points, or 0.64%, to 6878.49 points. Gold and silver mining stocks generally closed higher. Blue Gold (BGL.US) up 6.78%, Avino Silver & Gold Mines (ASM.US) up 6.54%, B2Gold (BTG.US) up 5.73%, First Majestic Silver (AG.US) up 4.97%, Hecla Mining (HL.US) 4.47%, AngloGold Ashanti (AU.US) 4.41%, and Goldfield (GFI.US) 4.12% Harmony Gold (HMY.US) rose 3.87%, Pan American Silver (PAAS.US) rose 3.81%, and Newman Mining (NEM.US) rose 3.54%.

[European stocks] The German DAX30 index fell 4.43 points, or 0.02%, to 24283.97 points; the British FTSE 100 index fell 31.45 points, or 0.32%, to 9865.97 points; the French CAC40 index fell 30.31 points, or 0.37%, to 8121.07 points; the European Stock 50 index fell 18.39 points, or 0.32%, to 5741.96 points; Spain's IBEX35 index fell 11.80 points, or 0.07%, to report 17158.00 points; Italy's FTSE MIB index fell 163.95 points, or 0.37%, to 44593.60 points.

[Asia Pacific Stock Market] The Nikkei 225 Index rose 1.81%, South Korea's KOSPI Index rose 2.12%, India's BSE SENSEX rose 0.75%, and the Indonesian Composite Index rose 0.42%.

[Foreign Exchange] The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures a basket against six major currencies, fell 0.33% to 98.29.

[Cryptocurrency] Cryptocurrency declined slightly. Bitcoin fell 0.31% to $88,348; Ethereum fell 0.36% to $2990.76.

[Precious Metals] COMEX gold futures rose 2.12% to $4480.45 per ounce. Spot gold rose 2.421% to $4443.65 per ounce. Spot silver rose 2.83% to 69.065 US dollars/ounce, and rose to a record high of 69.4549 US dollars earlier in the day. Spot platinum rose 7.74% to 2129.80 US dollars/ounce, directly following the top of 2008 at 2,300 US dollars/ounce.

[Crude oil] WTI crude oil futures for February closed up 2.63% to $58.01 per barrel. Brent crude oil futures for February closed up 2.64% to $62.07 per barrel.

[Metals] LME copper closed up 44 US dollars to 1,1925 US dollars/ton. LME aluminum closed down 4 US dollars to 2,942 US dollars/ton. LME zinc closed up $12 to $3085 per ton. LME lead fell by $13 to $1,925/ton at the close. Nickel in the LME period closed up $473 to $15,276 per ton. LME tin closed down $280 to $42,947 per ton. The LME period cobalt closed at $52,790 per ton.

[Macro News]

Trump's “handpicked” director Milan: If the Federal Reserve does not continue to cut interest rates next year, there is a risk of recession. Federal Reserve Governor Milan warned that unless the Federal Reserve continues to cut interest rates next year, the US economy will face the risk of recession. This statement is in stark contrast to the recent cautious stance of many Federal Reserve officials, and highlights the deep divisions within the Federal Reserve in the interest rate policy path. Milan said: “If we do not adjust our policies, we will face a growing risk of economic recession.” He stressed that the unemployment rate has risen to a level that exceeds expectations, and these data should prompt the Federal Reserve policymakers to shift in a dovish direction. Milan also said that he has yet to decide whether to support interest rate cuts of 25 basis points or 50 basis points at the next FOMC meeting of the Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Committee in January next year, but he believes it may be necessary to cut interest rates a few more times. He also said, “I don't think there will be a recession in the short term,” but the rising unemployment rate should prompt Federal Reserve officials to continue cutting interest rates. Furthermore, Milan once again hinted on Monday that it may “overtime” be a trustee next year. He said that if no one is confirmed before January 31, he is expected to remain a member of the Federal Reserve.

Asset management giant Apollo starts a “safe-haven model”: hoarding cash, deleveraging, and sitting and waiting for “bad things to happen”? Apollo is taking a series of aggressive defensive measures to prepare for possible market turmoil by hoarding cash, reducing leverage, and selling off high-risk debt assets. According to reports, Apollo CEO Marc Rowan clearly stated in a private meeting with investors this month that his top priority right now is to build the “best balance sheet possible” and establish a defensive posture to ensure that the company is in a favorable profit position when the credit and stock markets face greater challenges and “bad things happen.” Rowan warned that current asset prices are too high, long-term interest rates are unlikely to plummet, and geopolitical risks are increasing.

Bank of America CEO: The driving effect of AI on the economy is gradually showing. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to have a greater impact on the US economy. He pointed out that AI investment is gradually “gaining strength”, forming significant marginal support for the US economy, and will continue to amplify its impact in the next few years. The bank expects that the US economy will continue to grow strongly next year. Although the job market is slowing down, the overall risk is manageable. He said that even if there is a phased correction in the AI industry, its impact on the macroeconomy is relatively limited.

Traders gamble on US bond options, betting that the 10-year yield will fall back to 4% within a few weeks. Data on open positions released by CME on Monday confirmed that in the past week, traders have been buying a large number of US Treasury options, betting that the next few weeks will see a wave of rising bond prices, pulling 10-year US bond yields back to 4%. This is also a level that has not been reached since the end of November. Despite rising US bond yields in recent weeks, this bullish bet continues to grow. Earlier this month, the 10-year US Treasury yield was close to a high of 4.20%, then continued to fluctuate, around 4.16% on Monday. On the one hand, investors evaluate the latest economic data, and on the other hand, sort out the statements made by Federal Reserve officials to find clues about the extent and timing of further interest rate cuts.

[Individual Stock News]

Warner (WBD.US) takeover war escalates again! Ellison personally backed 40.4 billion US dollars, and Paramount (PSKY.US) went head-on against Netflix (NFLX.US). Oracle (ORCL.US) founder Larry Ellison is using his personal wealth to back up a takeover offer for Warner Bros. from Paramount, led by his son, to further escalate the competitive battle with Netflix. On Monday, both bidders took action to strengthen the financial support behind their respective bids, although they did not directly raise the offer. Netflix is refinancing part of its planned $59 billion debt to ensure that it maintains its investment-grade credit rating over the long term. According to the analysis, this is one of its key advantages compared to Paramount, which has a lower credit rating. But what could really force Warner Brothers to re-evaluate the situation is the personal guarantee provided by Ellison — Ellison is the fifth richest person in the world, with a personal wealth of about $246 billion. In its revised takeover offer on Monday, Paramount officially introduced billionaire Larry Ellison's irrevocable personal guarantee to provide cover for US$40.4 billion equity financing and potential liabilities, directly responding to Warner Bros. Exploration Board's previous questions about the reliability of the funds. Paramount also proposed increasing its regulatory reverse cancellation fee from $5 billion to $5.8 billion. On Monday, Warner's stock price closed up 3.5%, Paramount rose more than 4%, and Netflix fell more than 1%.

Google (GOOGL.US) is also boosting data centers: it has acquired energy partner Intersect for 4.75 billion US dollars. Google will use cash plus debt to wholly acquire data center energy supplier Intersect Power LLC with a total scale of 4.75 billion US dollars. The acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the first half of next year, aims to provide Google with more power supply for data centers and address the difficulties of America's aging power grid to meet the first surge in electricity demand in decades due to AI, new plants, and full electrification of the economy. A year ago, Google funded an investment in Intersect and established a partnership with it to build a large-scale energy plant next to the data center campus. According to Google, Intersect will help the company expand production capacity, operate more flexibly when building new power generation capacity at the same time as new data center loads, and reimagine energy solutions.