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Daily Update — Decemeber 17, 2025

Tech Solutions to Sustainability; US Hiring, Firing Diverges; and Private Equity Dry Powder Recedes

Today is Wednesday, December 17, 2025, and here’s your curated selection of Essential Intelligence on global markets from S&P Global. Subscribe to be notified of each new Daily Update.

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Energy Transition & Sustainability

Listen: How tech is evolving to solve sustainability challenges

 

In this episode of S&P Global Energy Horizons’ “All Things Sustainable” podcast, Rajiv Bazaj, vice president of energy and sustainability solutions at US utility Constellation Energy, Christoph Gebald, CEO and founder of carbon removal company Climeworks, and Jonathon Horn, founder and CEO of supply chain data platform Treefera, joined hosts Lindsey Hall and Esther Whieldon to discuss how their companies are using technology to address sustainability challenges.

 

The sustainability experts discussed demand response, AI, satellite technology, the new generation of small modular nuclear reactors and the removal of carbon from the atmosphere.

Economy

Future of ‘low hire, low fire’ US labor market stasis wobbles amid mixed signals

 

The consistently low rates of hiring and firing in the US during 2025 are beginning to decouple, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported. Although hiring remained weak, layoffs reached a 13-month high in October, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

 

Rising layoff data suggests that employers are overcoming their reluctance to trim payrolls, while slowing payroll growth indicates a peak for hiring activity, said Doug Peta, chief US investment strategist for BCA Research. "It's possible that the labor market could bounce back, but it's increasingly unlikely that employers are ready to ramp up the pace, given that nothing suggests hiring was robust in October and November," Peta said. "The no-fire condition looks much more vulnerable to us than its no-hire opposite."

Private Markets

Private equity dry powder recedes from all-time highs amid slow fundraising

 

Uncommitted capital available for new investments among private equity firms retreated to about $2.184 trillion as of March 31, down from a high of about $2.305 trillion in December 2023, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of Preqin data. The decline has occurred amid a challenging few years for fundraising and the recent slow pace of exits from private investments, according to market participants. Nonetheless, they remain positive about the sector overall, noting the growing appeal of private markets for institutional investors and the increasingly favorable regulatory environment with the removal of barriers to individual investors.

In case you missed it

  • The assets of global exchange-traded funds (ETFs) grew $185 billion in November, pushing year-to-date flows above $1.2 trillion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The rise was led by traditional core equity and short fixed-income ETFs, while cryptocurrency ETFs experienced significant outflows.
  • Nigeria’s Dangote refinery began a turnaround that will pause its main gasoline unit and briefly halt all crude processing in early 2026, according to a senior executive. The work will expand the refinery’s crude distillation unit, which is already the world’s largest.
  • The NFL accounted for six of the 10 sports teams most watched by respondents, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan’s US MediaCensus online consumer survey.

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