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Real-time News
January 8th - British businesses expect a slight slowdown in wage growth and a slower pace of price increases over the next 12 months, a welcome sign for Bank of England officials who have been wary of overly high expectations. In the average survey for the fourth quarter, respondents expected wage growth of 3.7%, down 0.1 percentage points from the three months to November. Meanwhile, businesses expected their own price increases of 3.6%, also down 0.1 percentage points from the previous period. Bank of England policymakers had previously worried that wage and price expectations would remain high after inflation surged again to nearly double the 2% target last year. However, price pressures have eased faster than the Bank expected in recent months, and measures in the budget are expected to bring inflation down to near 2% by spring. A Bank of England survey of chief financial officers showed that businesses cut 0.4% of their workforce last year. The number of employees rose 0.5% year-on-year in December, recovering from a 1.8% drop in November. However, businesses still expect job cuts over the next 12 months, forecasting a further decline of 0.4% – the worst reading since 2020.January 8th - Storage and mass storage companies were the best-performing group in the S&P 500 last year. This sector has surged as massive investments in AI infrastructure have permeated some traditionally stable areas of the tech industry. Led by SanDisk, Western Digital, Seagate Technology, and Micron Technology, this group remains among the top performers in the index at the start of 2026. SanDisk rose 16% on the first trading day of the year, followed by a 28% surge on Tuesday. The stock rose 1.1% on Wednesday, bringing its year-to-date gain to 49%. Meanwhile, Western Digital, Seagate, and Micron all recorded double-digit percentage gains at the start of 2026, although all three stocks declined on Wednesday. Peter Andersen, chief investment officer at Andersen Capital Management, said the recent strong momentum is visually justified given the AI data center construction narrative, but he is increasingly concerned that the market is over-extrapolating future demand and underestimating historical cyclicality, as well as the risks of overcapacity and price pressures. This rally may be unsustainable in the short term. For example, SanDisk and Micron both have 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) values above 70, which some technical analysts consider an overbought signal for the stocks.Germany and India are close to reaching an $8 billion submarine deal.Hungarian Cabinet Minister Gulyás: Hungary needs assurances from the United States regarding the lifting of sanctions against NIS (National Oil Company of Serbia).Ukrainian President Zelensky: Diplomatic efforts should not lead to a slowdown in the delivery of air defense weapons to Ukraine.
