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US household wealth eked out record high in fourth quarter on stock gains

The net worth of households and non-profit groups rose about $200 billion to $169.4 trillion in the fourth quarter of last year, the U.S. central bank said in its quarterly U.S. financial accounts report, as a drop in the value of real estate trimmed gains from equities. Stock market holdings, the biggest component of household net worth, rose about $300 billion to $56 trillion in value, while household real estate, the second-biggest component, fell about $400 billion to $48.1 trillion. The S&P 1500 Composite index, which encompasses the vast majority of the U.S. stock market, gained 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

As Wall Street Gets Worried, Retail Crowd Keeps Buying US Stocks

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Fed, breaking with practice, has yet to report 2024 financial results

The Federal Reserve has broken this year with its long-standing practice of releasing an annual preview of its finances for the preceding year. The U.S. central bank has released a preliminary statement detailing its annual profit or loss in early January since at least 2006, but has yet to release the numbers for 2024. A Fed spokesperson said the audited version of the financial statement will be released later this month.