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The Markets
by Proactive
Proactive UK has moved.
Coverage of London’s small caps continues on proactiveinvestors.com
Go to Proactive UK
The Markets
by Proactive
Proactive UK has moved.
Small-cap coverage continues on .com
Go to Proactive UK
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The Markets
by Proactive
Proactive UK has moved.
Small-cap coverage continues on .com
Go to Proactive UK

Finance

US economy grew at half the expected pace in the fourth quarter, dragging futures lower

US stock futures slipped further into negative territory after data showed the American economy expanded at an annualised rate of just 1.4% in the final three months of 2025, well short of the 2.9% economists had forecast.

The Nasdaq is now expected to open 0.5% lower, with the S&P 500 and Dow pointing to falls of 0.33% and 0.25% respectively.

The figures, published Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis after a delay caused by the 43-day government shutdown last autumn, showed a sharp deceleration driven by falling government spending and exports, alongside softer consumer activity.

Government expenditure alone knocked 0.9 percentage points off the headline number.

Underlying demand held up better than the top-line figure suggests. Private sector spending and fixed investment grew at 2.4%, pointing to continued resilience among businesses and households.

AI-related investment was a bright spot, with spending on information processing equipment contributing 0.65 percentage points to overall growth.

President Trump, writing on Truth Social ahead of the release, attributed the shortfall to the shutdown and repeated his call for lower interest rates.

For the full year, the US economy grew 2.2%, down from 2.8% in 2024.

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