South Korean Won Leads Asian FX Losses as Dollar Rises 
Oil Prices Rise as Hormuz Reopening Remains Uncertain 
Yen Stabilizes After Intervention Slide as Australian Dollar Hits Eight-Week High 
Iran-Oman Near Strait of Hormuz Deal as Shipping Tensions Persist 
Gold Prices Rise as Fed Rate Hike Bets Ease 
UK Retail Sales Rise as World Cup and Heatwave Boost Food, Pubs and Clothing 
S&P 500, Nasdaq Slip as Oil Jumps on Iran Tensions 
Asian Currencies Steady as Markets Await U.S. Inflation Data 
European Stocks Flat as Oil Prices Rise, US CPI in Focus 
US Dollar Near Two-Month Low as Markets Await Inflation Data 
Asian Stocks Rise as Weak US Jobs Data Eases Fed Rate Hike Fears 
Asian Stocks Mixed as RBA Holds Rates, Oil Risks Rise 
Singapore Raises 2026 GDP Growth Forecast to 4.5%-5.5% as AI Boom Fuels Economy 
Gold Price Hits Two-Month High as Investors Await US Inflation Data 
S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Rise as Iran Risks and CPI Loom 
Japan Executives Warn Weak Yen and Currency Volatility Threaten Economy 
The S&P 500 rose 1.1% Tuesday as tech stocks extended their rally. Equity inflows reached $10 billion, marking the largest since January 2017, while trading activity thinned ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Tech Stocks Propel S&P 500 Gains in Light Holiday Trading
With tech companies maintaining their good start to the week, the S&P 500 finished higher on Tuesday in thin trade ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Among the market leaders at 1:00 p.m. ET (18:00 GMT) were the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, which both had 1.1% increases, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which climbed 0.9%, or 350 points.
There will be no trading on Christmas Day or after the New York Stock Exchange's early Tuesday closure in observance of Christmas Eve.
Mag 7 Tech Stocks Lead Market Momentum
While NVIDIA Corporation remained flat, the so-called Mag 7—Apple, Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, Alphabet, Class A, and Tesla—continued their good start to the week in technology.
Following the beginning of a new trade probe into legacy chips manufactured in China, the Biden administration sent chip stocks, which had already accumulated gains the day before, up a little bit more. This could result in new duties on semiconductors made in China.
Per Investing.com, recouping from an intraday loss, American Airlines Group shares were flat on Tuesday after the company momentarily grounded all U.S. flights due to a "technical issue." A decision was made to remove the ground stop.
Novo Nordisk Faces Pressure from Weight Loss Drug Study
Declining expectations in a late-stage research of Novo Nordisk A/S's weight loss medicine caused the company to tumble, stalling its comeback from a previous plunge.
For the seventh week in a row, BofA Securities said that its clients kept buying US stocks. More specifically, inflows hit $10 billion, the highest level since January 2017 and the second-highest since 2008.
Large-Cap Stocks Dominate $10 Billion Equity Inflows
Investments were evenly distributed between individual equities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as in previous weeks, with a larger influx into individual stocks. Traders were mostly interested in purchasing large-cap equities, with small caps seeing relatively muted inflows.
For a third consecutive week, both institutional and retail investors boosted their equities holdings; retail clients did the same. Hedge funds, on the other hand, sold more than they bought for the second week running.
Institutional clients' inflows reached a nine-month high, following a normal pattern of increased buying activity following mutual funds' tax-loss selling in October.
“Private clients typically are big sellers in December amid tax loss selling vs. big net buyers in January. While this group has been a buyer of ETFs this month, it has sold single stocks, though slightly less so than in the average December,” said Jill Carey Hall and other BofA analysts.
