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Mojtaba Khamenei: The Rise of Iran’s New Supreme Leader

                      A picture of Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is displayed on a screen in Tehran Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has emerged as Iran’s new supreme leader following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in joint U.S.–Israeli strikes. His appointment by the Assembly of Experts comes at a moment of profound crisis for Iran, as the country faces regional war, internal instability, and intense international scrutiny.  A Secretive Heir With Deep Establishment Ties Mojtaba, long considered influential behind the scenes, is a mid-ranking cleric with strong connections to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). His political rise signals continuity of Iran’s hardline establishment, despite the country’s ideological discomfort with hereditary succession.  A Leader Shaped by Conflict and Loss His ascension comes amid the “Ramadan War,” during which he was reportedly wound...

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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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