Stocks rose at the end of their best week in 2024 amid solid consumer sentiment data and bets that Donald Trump’s promises of tax cuts will further benefit corporations. Equities advanced for a fourth consecutive session with the S&P 500 hitting its 50th record this year. The gauge briefly topped the 6,000 mark and ultimately extended its weekly gain to 4.7%. A whopping $20 billion flowed into US equity funds on the day Trump claimed victory, the most in five months. Small caps—which are seen benefiting from Trump’s tariff threats—attracted the biggest inflow since March, though economists fear those tariffs, if enacted, could boomerang on the US economy to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Here’s your markets wrap. —David E. Rovella

European Union leaders are trying to work out whether they will keep the Ukrainian war effort going if Trump decides to shut off US support (Trump has said he has a plan to end the conflict). Officials held discussions in Budapest on whether the bloc will be ready to foot the bill alone for Kyiv’s defense against Russia. Trump has often mused about having the US exit NATO altogether while praising Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and threatening to leave some alliance members undefended if attacked.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's president, said Donald Trump should come forward with his plan to quickly end the war with Russia, warning that any proposal must avoid violating the nation’s sovereignty. Photographer: Julia Kochetova/Bloomberg

Richard Farley, a partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, and Kirkland & Ellis partner Norm Champ are said to be among contenders to replace Gary Gensler as chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Robinhood Markets legal chief Dan Gallagher, current SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda and Heath Tarbert, a former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, are also among those being considered for the job. No matter Trump’s choice, the next SEC chief is likely to scrutinize the major Gensler-era rules still pending or not yet in effect, and seek less regulation for the digital-asset industry.

Salesforce said it plans to hire more than 1,000 workers to sell its new generative artificial intelligence agent product. The hiring surge is aimed at capitalizing on “amazing momentum” for the new AI product, Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff said. “Agentforce became available just two weeks ago and we’re already hearing incredible feedback from our customers.” The move comes as the company, along with much of Big Tech, spent the past few years firing employees and cutting costs.

Marc Benioff  Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Macro trader Chris Rokos made the most out of a widespread rally in asset prices Wednesday. His Rokos Capital Management is said to have reaped almost $1 billion of profit, one of his best trading sessions since he started the hedge fund firm in 2015. While so-called Trump trades helped, Rokos also made money across asset classes. The jump added to the hedge fund’s gain of about 20% this year through October and lifted assets under management to about $19 billion. Rokos co-founded Brevan Howard Asset Management in 2002 before leaving to start his own firm, which is now one of the world’s biggest macro hedge funds. His net worth is an estimated $1.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In the days since Trump won the US presidential election, racist texts have reportedly been sent to Black Americans in multiple states with references to slavery. The Justice Department says it’s investigating. Meanwhile, online abuse, harassment and hate toward women has soared, with phrases like “your body, my choice” and “get back to the kitchen” exploding on platforms like X, owned by Trump advisor and right-wing billionaire Elon Musk, as well as TikTok, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is said to have called Trump in the early hours of Wednesday to express his joy at the Republican’s return to power. Trump strengthened US ties with Saudi Arabia during his previous term, but the relationship foundered under President Joe Biden after the Democrat criticized the kingdom over the 2018 murder of Saudi critic and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. An American resident, Khashoggi was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, murdered and his body dismembered. US intelligence authorities said the assassination was approved by Bin Salman.

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