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• 🇨🇳 Chinese Deepwater Project in Brazil Takes Off
  BEIJING: China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC)...

  BEIJING: China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has further expanded its presence in Brazil’s deepwater pre-salt oilfields following the start of production of its Mero2 project on Tuesday, say industry experts.

  
  

  Mero2 is one of the four production units of Mero, the country’s third-largest pre-salt oilfield in the Santos Basin off southeastern Brazil. It is located at a water depth of between 1,800m and 2,100m, CNOOC said.

  
  

  Sixteen development wells are to be commissioned, including eight production wells and eight injectors. The production capacity of the project is 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day, the state-owned company said.

  
  

  Mero1 has consistently maintained good production since it came into operation in May, with a daily output of 25,500 tonnes, one of the most productive offshore oil fields in Brazil, said CNOOC Petroleum Brazil Ltd president Huang Yehua, a wholly owned subsidiary of CNOOC.

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• Closing Market Update for Wednesday
  U.S. stocks extended a new year’s downturn Wednesday as investors continued to take...

  U.S. stocks extended a new year’s downturn Wednesday as investors continued to take profits following last year's rally and minutes from the Federal Reserve's policy meeting last month that suggested the central bank may not lower interest rates as much as the market expects. Technology remained under pressure, sending the Nasdaq Composite® (COMP) to its fourth-straight daily drop and a three-week low.

  
  

  Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) December 12 – 13 meeting, released earlier Wednesday afternoon, echoed the Fed's inflation-fighting messaging oft heard over the past year. While the Fed's benchmark short-term rate is "likely at or near its peak" for the recent tightening cycle, the actual path of rates "will depend on how the economy evolves," according to the minutes.

  
  

  Almost all FOMC members indicated that based on an improved inflation outlook "a lower target range for the federal funds rate would be appropriate by the end of 2024," the minutes said. However, FOMC members noted an "unusually elevated" degree of uncertainty and that it was possible "the economy could evolve in a manner that would make further increases in the target range appropriate."

  
  

  Here's where the major benchmarks ended:

  
  
  

  
  
  • The S&P 500® index (SPX) was down 38.02 points (0.8%) at 4,704.81; the Dow Jones Industrial Average® (DJI) was down 284.85 points (0.8%) at 37,430.19; the Nasdaq Composite was down 173.73 points (1.2%) at 14,592.21.
  
  
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) was down about 3 basis points at 3.91%.
  
  
  • The Cboe® Volatility Index (VIX) was up 0.84 at 14.04.
  
  

  
  
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• Closing Oil & Gas Prices for Wednesday
  Benchmark U.S. crude oil for February delivery...
  Benchmark U.S. crude oil for February delivery rose $2.32 to $72.70 per barrel Wednesday. Brent crude for March delivery rose $2.36 to $78.25 per barrel.
  
  Wholesale gasoline for February delivery rose 7 cents to $2.16 a gallon. February heating oil rose 7 cents to $2.60 a gallon. February natural gas rose 10 cents to $2.67 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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• Trump to Appeal Maine Ballot Ban and Skips Tonight's GOP Debate
  Former President Donald Trump to appeal Maine...

  Former President Donald Trump to appeal Maine GOP primary ballot ban; secretary of state's decision accused Trump of violating the 14th Amendment for his role in the events of Jan. 6, 2021 (More)

  
  

  Trump will also skip Wednesday's GOP primary debate, while only Gov. Ron DeSantis (FL) and former Gov. Nikki Haley (SC) will participate.

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• ☕️ What Else Is Brewing Wednesday Morning
  Israel kills top Hamas official in Beirut. Saleh...

  Israel kills top Hamas official in Beirut. Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas’s deputy political leader and a co-founder of its military wing, was killed in a suspected Israeli drone strike in Lebanon’s capital yesterday, Hamas confirmed. Israel has pledged to take out the Hamas leaders responsible for the Oct. 7 attack wherever they reside, and the assassination of al-Arouri (who was placed under a $5 million bounty from the US in 2015) was the first targeted strike against a Hamas official outside of Palestinian territories since the war broke out, per the Financial Times. Al-Arouri’s killing could intensify military activity along the Israel–Lebanon border, where the Israel Defense Forces and the militant group Hezbollah have been trading fire.

  
  

  Two planes collided at Tokyo’s airport. A passenger plane hit a Japanese Coast Guard plane and burst into flames while landing at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport yesterday. All 367 passengers and 12 crew members were safely evacuated from the fiery Japan Airlines plane, but five crew members died on the Coast Guard aircraft, which was scheduled to deliver supplies to the area affected by a recent earthquake. Aviation accidents are rare, but the New York Times recently found that this type of collision, known as a runway incursion, is often only narrowly averted. The newspaper reviewed FAA data that showed such near misses increased by almost 25% in the last decade, although since 2018, the rate has been improving.

  
  

  X’s value has plunged 71.5% since Elon Musk bought it, Fidelity says. It’s a good thing that Musk still owns several other successful companies, because Fidelity believes that the social media platform is worth a lot less than when the billionaire bought it for $44 billion in October 2022, Axios reports. That includes a decision by Fidelity, which owns a stake in X, to cut its estimate of X’s value by 10.7% in November after Musk publicly suggested that advertisers fleeing the platform over concerns about antisemitic postings “go f**k” themselves. The investment firm’s most recent valuation would put X’s value at ~$12.5 billion.

  
  
  

  
  
  • Maersk paused all shipping through the Red Sea until further notice after one of its ships was attacked by Houthi militants over the weekend.
  
  
  • Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist, was sentenced to six months in jail in a case his supporters say is politically motivated.
  
  
  • South Korea’s opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, is recovering after he was stabbed in the neck by an unidentified assailant in Busan yesterday.
  
  
  • A new study shows that women who are not pregnant are increasingly ordering abortion pills in case they need them and their access is threatened.
  
  
  • Taylor Swift broke Elvis’s record for the most weeks atop the Billboard 200 album chart as a solo artist, with 68.
  
  
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