Global News You Need to Know Before the US Stock Market Opens on Wednesday

U.S. core durable goods orders for December preliminary increased by 0.6%, exceeding expectations, while December durable goods orders preliminary fell by 1.4%. The New York Fed Business Activity Index reported -25.7, hitting a five-year low. U.S. December new housing starts rose to 1.404 million units, higher than expected. According to CCTV, Sanae Takaichi was elected as Japan's new Prime Minister. According to CCTV, the European Union has adopted a comprehensive strategy to support member states bordering Russia and Ukraine. No documents were signed at the Russia-U.S.-Ukraine Geneva talks. UK inflation fell to a 10-month low, providing grounds for further rate cuts by the Bank of England. Lagarde may step down early: the power transition at the European Central Bank enters the countdown. U.S. stock market pre-market: all three major U.S. stock index futures are up, the European Stoxx 600 Index hit a record high, gold recovered 4,900, silver rose more than 3% intraday, and crude oil rose 2%. Reminder: At 03:00 the next day in the East 8th time zone, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes of the January FOMC monetary policy meeting.