Festive Season, Fragile Markets: Investors brace for a busy finish
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With the holiday season approaching, financial markets are anything but quiet. The coming week promises a packed calendar for investors, offering fresh insight into the health of the U.S. economy while global geopolitics continue to add layers of uncertainty. From delayed economic data releases to oil-market crosscurrents and central bank signals in Asia, traders will have plenty to digest even as they hope for a traditional year-end boost in equities. A key focus remains the elusive “Santa rally”, the seasonal pattern where U.S. stocks typically rise in the final stretch of December and into early January. While December has historically been one of the strongest months for the S&P 500, the rally’s reliability has weakened over time. Recent decades have seen more muted gains, and the past few years have even delivered losses on average. With the benchmark index slipping over the last two weeks, investor sentiment remains fragile, tho...