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Tehran Rocked by Renewed Israeli Strikes as Iran’s Leadership Council Assumes Control

  A woman reacts as she holds a placard with an image of Iranian late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at a rally in solidarity with Iran after U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Ali Khamenei, in Beirut, Lebanon. Israel has launched another wave of airstrikes on Tehran, intensifying a rapidly escalating regional crisis just one day after the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. According to multiple reports, Israeli officials said the renewed strikes were intended to maintain air dominance as Iran faces its most significant leadership vacuum in decades.  The power void left by Khamenei’s killing has prompted Iran to activate a leadership council to stabilize governance. Inside the country, reactions have been sharply divided—some mourning the long‑time leader, others openly celebrating his death, revealing deep internal fractures.  The military confrontation has widened beyond Iran’s borders. Iran has retaliated with missile barrages targeting Israe...

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US Futures Recover as Tech Sector Leads the Way

 

US stock futures are pointing to a rebound from recent losses, with investors looking to fresh quarterly earnings for inspiration amid dwindling hopes for an early 2024 interest rate cut. S&P 500 futures added around 0.4%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 jumped 0.7%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures hugged the flatline. 

Techs are in the vanguard after a bullish AI-fueled revenue outlook from TSMC, a key supplier to Apple and Nvidia. The Taiwanese contract chipmaker’s profit fell but beat Wall Street estimates. Shares of AMD and other chipmakers stepped higher in premarket as TSMC put on almost 7%. 

Stocks are still struggling to get off the ground this year as central bankers’ comments and mixed economic data put investors’ faith in a Federal Reserve pivot to the test. The odds of a rate cut in March as seen by traders have dropped 10 percentage points from a week ago, per the CME FedWatch Tool (Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group).

Investors are on the lookout for fresh data to feed their expectations, so Thursday’s release of readings on weekly jobless claims will be in focus. Housing starts and building permits for December are also on the docket. Eyes will also be on Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, scheduled to appear twice today and closely watched for any deviation from his colleagues’ pushback on rate-cut bets.


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