NEWSLETTER
Thursday / September 29Sep 29
Friday / December 31
Biden-Putin call
US President Joe Biden held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. During the meeting, which lasted 50 minutes, the two discussed NATO's eastward expansion and Ukraine.
Biden urged Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine, the White House said in a statement, making it clear that the United States and its allies and partners would 'respond decisively' if Russia further invaded Ukraine.
Putin and Biden discussed diplomacy, which will begin with the bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue at NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, through the NATO-Russia Council, early next year.
Putin told Biden that sanctions on Russia would be a colossal mistake, the Kremlin said in a statement.
“Our president stressed that in this very difficult situation, we will act as the United States would if offensive weapons were deployed on US borders,” the Russian official said, according to Ria.
The Kremlin stressed that Putin is seeking "concrete" guarantees for Russia's security in the upcoming talks, and that success in these negotiations could lead to the normalization of US-Russian relations.
US stocks
US stocks fell on Thursday ahead of the last trading day of 2021.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 36,398.08, recording a loss of 90.55 points, or 0.3%. The S&P500 fell 0.3% to 4,778.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.2% to 15,741.56 points.
Biogen fell nearly 8% after Samsung denied a report in The Korea Economic Daily that it was in talks to acquire Biogen. The stock led the declines in the S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite. Biogen shares were up 9.5% on Wednesday related news.
Poor performance from semiconductor stocks weighed on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Micron fell 2.4%, AMD fell 2.1%.
Cruise ship stocks took another blow after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans to avoid cruises regardless of vaccination status. Norwegian Cruise Line fell 2.6% and Carnival lost 1.3%.
US workforce
Initial applications for unemployment insurance fell last week, hovering near the lowest levels in more than 50 years, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday.
Unemployment claims for the week ended Dec. 25 were at 198,000, less than the Dow Jones median estimate of 205,000 as it saw a drop of 8,000 from the previous week.
The four-week moving average dropped to 199,250, the lowest since October 25, 1969.
Chip shortage
Two of the world's largest memory chip manufacturers, Samsung Electronics and Micron, have warned that the Covid-19 quarantine in China's Xi'an city could affect chip production bases in the region.
Micron said on Wednesday that the quarantine could lead to delays in the supply of DRAM memory chips, which are widely used in data centers.
It said stringent restrictions that came into effect earlier this month may be increasingly difficult to ease, leading to thinner staffing levels at the manufacturing facility.
Chinese authorities have imposed drastic restrictions on travel in and out of Xi'an from December 23, in line with Beijing's drive to contain outbreaks immediately as they arise.
US President Joe Biden held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. During the meeting, which lasted 50 minutes, the two discussed NATO's eastward expansion and Ukraine.
Biden urged Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine, the White House said in a statement, making it clear that the United States and its allies and partners would 'respond decisively' if Russia further invaded Ukraine.
Putin and Biden discussed diplomacy, which will begin with the bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue at NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, through the NATO-Russia Council, early next year.
Putin told Biden that sanctions on Russia would be a colossal mistake, the Kremlin said in a statement.
“Our president stressed that in this very difficult situation, we will act as the United States would if offensive weapons were deployed on US borders,” the Russian official said, according to Ria.
The Kremlin stressed that Putin is seeking "concrete" guarantees for Russia's security in the upcoming talks, and that success in these negotiations could lead to the normalization of US-Russian relations.
US stocks
US stocks fell on Thursday ahead of the last trading day of 2021.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 36,398.08, recording a loss of 90.55 points, or 0.3%. The S&P500 fell 0.3% to 4,778.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.2% to 15,741.56 points.
Biogen fell nearly 8% after Samsung denied a report in The Korea Economic Daily that it was in talks to acquire Biogen. The stock led the declines in the S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite. Biogen shares were up 9.5% on Wednesday related news.
Poor performance from semiconductor stocks weighed on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Micron fell 2.4%, AMD fell 2.1%.
Cruise ship stocks took another blow after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans to avoid cruises regardless of vaccination status. Norwegian Cruise Line fell 2.6% and Carnival lost 1.3%.
US workforce
Initial applications for unemployment insurance fell last week, hovering near the lowest levels in more than 50 years, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday.
Unemployment claims for the week ended Dec. 25 were at 198,000, less than the Dow Jones median estimate of 205,000 as it saw a drop of 8,000 from the previous week.
The four-week moving average dropped to 199,250, the lowest since October 25, 1969.
Chip shortage
Two of the world's largest memory chip manufacturers, Samsung Electronics and Micron, have warned that the Covid-19 quarantine in China's Xi'an city could affect chip production bases in the region.
Micron said on Wednesday that the quarantine could lead to delays in the supply of DRAM memory chips, which are widely used in data centers.
It said stringent restrictions that came into effect earlier this month may be increasingly difficult to ease, leading to thinner staffing levels at the manufacturing facility.
Chinese authorities have imposed drastic restrictions on travel in and out of Xi'an from December 23, in line with Beijing's drive to contain outbreaks immediately as they arise.
