The infoshot to help kick-start your week
Fed cuts rates for a third straight meeting
The US Federal Reserve cut rates for a third consecutive meeting and maintained their outlook for just one cut in 2026. The Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-3 on Wednesday to lower interest rates by 25 basis point. Chair Jerome Powell has suggested that the Fed have now done enough to defend against threats to employment while leaving rates high enough to counter price pressures.
US jobless claims jump
Applications for US unemployment benefits increased by 44,000 to 236,000 in the week ended Dec. 6. This was the biggest jump since March 2020 and followed the lowest level of applications in more than three years in the previous week, which included Thanksgiving. However, continuing claims declined by 99,000 to 1.838 million, the lowest since mid-April.
UK economy unexpectedly shrinks, housing market activity cools
UK GDP fell 0.1% in October, with the UK’s dominant services sector slipping 0.3% and construction dropping 0.6%, offset in part by a 1.1% rebound in industrial production. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ monthly gauge of new buyer enquiries fell in November to -32% from -24% in October, marking the weakest reading since September 2023. Their latest survey showed a notable cooling in the UK housing market in November as demand for homes hit a two-year low.
Oracle shares shrank 14% causing bubble fears to return
Shares of cloud computing giant Oracle plunged on Thursday, after weaker-than-expected revenues stoked concerns about returns from massive spending on artificial intelligence. This pulled down AI-related technology companies, with Nvidia down more than 3.5% and Advanced Micro Devices nearly 4% lower.
What’s next for the ECB?
Traders are betting on a greater than 50% chance that the ECB will hike interest rates in 2026, following hawkish remarks by policymaker Isabel Schnabel. The ECB executive board member told Bloomberg that she was rather comfortable with market expectations for an increase rather than a decrease in borrowing costs but indicated that any potential rate hike would hinge on incoming economic data.
Coming Up:
- UK and EUR CPI, Wednesday 17 December 2025
- BOE and ECB interest rate decision, Thursday 18 December 2025
- US CPI, Thursday 18 December 2025
Notice:
For regulated financial advisers and investment professionals only, Copia does not provide financial advice, and the contents of this document should not be taken as such. The performance of each asset class is represented by certain Exchange Traded Funds available to UK investors and expressed in GBP terms selected by Copia Capital Management to represent that asset class, as reported at previous Thursday 4:30pm UK close. Reference to a particular asset class does not represent a recommendation to seek exposure to that asset class. This information is included for comparison purposes for the period stated but is not an indicator of potential maximum loss for other periods or in the future.
