Business

By Himanshi Akhand and Shivangi Lahiri

(Reuters) – The Australian central bank’s rate trajectory and its effect on inflation will decide if Australian bank shares can eke out growth in 2025 after a bumper year that has left valuations stretched, analysts said.

The financial sub-index, composed mainly of the country’s biggest lenders, has risen almost 30% this year to mark its best yearly gain since 2009, outpacing an 8% gain in the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index.

The sector’s bumper performance was a result of inflows from superannuation funds and retail investors, who found comfort in the banks’ ability to provide high capital returns in a weak economic environment.

Stable earnings performance and strong asset quality have pushed more funds into banks, while the impact of China’s growth prospects on commodity prices saw a revaluation across the materials sector, multiple analysts said.

“Given the valuation stretch in the bank sector any fatigue in flow from what has been the dominant driver this year could be a trigger for multiple derate back to more normal valuation levels,” Morgan Stanley analysts said.

They added that their model portfolio positioning remains linked to a scenario that can see an ultimate rotation away from Australian banks and broaden into other sectors including resources.

The country’s biggest lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia jumped 39% and became the most valuable company on the local bourse.

CBA last traded at A$155.12 per share, much higher than the average 12-month price target of A$104.37, and has a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 27.55, according to data compiled by LSEG.

National Australia Bank rose nearly 22% this year, Westpac added 42% and ANZ logged a gain of about 11%.

The sustenance of this rally would ultimately depend on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) rate trajectory.

RBA has held interest rates at 4.35% for an entire year now, but opened the door to easing as early as February should data unfold as expected.

Markets have since lifted the probability of a February easing to around 50%, while April is fully priced for a quarter-point cut.

If inflation remains elevated and short-term rates on hold, asset quality issues and slowing consumer spending may arise, but if rates are cut, investors may find other opportunities across the ASX as other companies may benefit from this inflation and rate relief, Citi analysts said.

(Reporting by Himanshi Akhand and Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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Sales rose this year during the holiday shopping season even as Americans wrestled with elevated prices for many groceries and other necessities, according to new data.

Holiday sales from the beginning of November through Christmas Eve climbed 3.8%, outpacing the 3.1% increase from a year earlier, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards. The last five days of the season accounted for 10% of the spending.

This year, retailers were even more under the gun to get shoppers in to buy early and in bulk since there were five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Michelle Meyer, chief economist at Mastercard Economics Institute, said the holiday shopping season “revealed a consumer who is willing and able to spend but driven by a search for value” as seen by concentrated online spending during the biggest promotional periods.

Sales growth was higher than the 3.2% increase Mastercard SpendingPulse had projected this fall. The data released Thursday excludes the automotive industry and is not adjusted for inflation.

Clothing sales rose 3.6%, with most of the growth being fueled by online shopping. Spending on restaurants, and sales of electronics and jewelry also grew. Online sales jumped 6.7% from a year ago and in-person spending rose 2.9%.

Consumer spending accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic activity and economists carefully monitor how Americans use their money, particularly during the holidays, to gauge how they’re feeling financially.

The most recent government data on consumer spending, released on Dec. 17, showed shoppers stepped up activity at retail stores last month. But auto dealer sales drove most of those gains as huge storms created a need for new cars in parts of the southeast slammed by Hurricane Helene in October. Big discounts at many retail chains also attracted shoppers.

But the report also hinted at some consumer caution as sales at grocery stores, clothing shops, and restaurants fell. Outside of car dealers and online retailers, sales gains were modest.

Retailers felt more pressure this year due to the shorter holiday shopping period, and also from a presidential election that captured the attention of many consumers. Sales of general merchandise slid 9% in the two weeks ended Nov. 9, according to Circana, a market research group. Sales have been rebounding but stores will have to make up for those losses.

A broader picture of how Americans are spending their money arrives next month when the National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, releases its combined two-month statistics based on November-December sales figures from the Commerce Department.

The group expects that shoppers will have made $979.5 billion to $989 billion worth of purchases in November and December, which would represent a 2.5%-3.5% increase over the same two-month period a year ago. That would be a slower rate than the 3.9% increase from holiday 2023 over holiday 2022 season.

Overall, retailers had a decent start to the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping period despite lots of discounts that started as early as October.

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By Emily Chow

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Oil prices edged higher on Thursday in thin holiday trading, driven by hopes for additional fiscal stimulus in China, the world’s biggest oil importer, while an anticipated decline in U.S. crude inventories also provided support.

Brent crude futures rose 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $73.71 a barrel by 0650 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $70.21 a barrel, up 0.2%, or 11 cents, from Tuesday’s pre-Christmas settlement.

China plans to boost fiscal support for consumption next year by increasing pensions and medical insurance subsidies for residents and expanding trade-ins for consumer goods, according to a finance ministry announcement on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have agreed to issue 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) worth of special treasury bonds next year, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two sources, as Beijing ramps up fiscal stimulus to revive a faltering economy.

“Crude oil prices have risen this week, driven by news that Chinese authorities are implementing a record-breaking 3 trillion yuan fiscal stimulus to boost their struggling economy,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.

“Additionally, a decrease in U.S. crude oil inventories, which indicates healthy demand, has also supported prices.”

Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst at Rakuten Securities, said expectations of increasing fossil fuel production and demand after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month are also bolstering oil prices.

An extended Reuters poll showed on Tuesday that crude inventories are expected to have fallen by about 1.9 million barrels in the week to Dec. 20. Gasoline and distillate inventories are seen falling by 1.1 million barrels and 0.3 million barrels, respectively.

U.S. crude oil and distillate stocks fell last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.

The latest data from the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, is due at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) on Friday.

On the supply side, Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Wednesday that the country’s average crude production in 2024 exceeded its target of around 1.4 million barrels per day.

($1 = 7.2975 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing by Jamie Freed)

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By Rae Wee

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Asia shares eased in holiday-thinned trade on Thursday, paring some of their gains from earlier in the week, while the dollar rose alongside U.S. Treasury yields.

As the year-end approaches, trading volumes have begun thinning out and the main focus for investors remains that of the Federal Reserve’s rate outlook. Markets in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand were closed for a holiday on Thursday.

Since Fed Chair Jerome Powell primed markets for fewer rate cuts next year at the central bank’s last policy meeting of the year, traders are now pricing in just about 35 basis points worth of easing for 2025.

That has in turn lifted U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar, with the greenback’s renewed strength a burden for commodities and gold.

The benchmark 10-year yield ticked up 2.6 basis points to 4.613% and is up roughly 40 basis points for the month thus far. The two-year yield similarly firmed to 4.3489%. [US/]

“Given December’s hawkish cut, we believe the Fed will skip at the January FOMC meeting and wait for more data before definitely resuming, or potentially ending, this cutting cycle,” said Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at PGIM Fixed Income.

“Given the Fed’s shift to less accommodation paired with continued focus on both sides of the dual mandate, we believe the market will have more intense emphasis on economic events in the new year.”

In currencies, the dollar was perched near a two-year high against a basket of currencies at 108.15 and was on track for a monthly gain of more than 2%.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars were, meanwhile, among the biggest losers against a dominant greenback on Thursday, with the Aussie falling 0.5% to $0.6238. The kiwi slid 0.58% to $0.5646.

The euro eased 0.18% to $1.0399, while the yen languished near a five-month low and last stood at 157.35 per dollar.

Japan is set to raise scheduled sales of Japanese government bonds (JGB) slightly to 172.3 trillion yen ($1.1 trillion) next fiscal year, the first increase in four years, according to a draft plan seen by Reuters.

Yields on JGBs barely reacted to the news, but were similarly higher on the day in line with their U.S. peers. [JP/]

ENDING ON A HIGH

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.1% but was still headed for a weekly rise of about 1.6%, taking a cue from its counterparts on Wall Street earlier in the week.

S&P 500 futures edged 0.08% higher, while Nasdaq futures advanced 0.27%.

World stocks looked set to end the year on a high with a second consecutive annual gain of more than 17%, unfazed by escalating geopolitical tensions and various economic and political headwinds globally.

That is mostly thanks to a second year of huge gains for shares on Wall Street as artificial intelligence fever and robust economic growth sucked more global capital into U.S. assets.

“At first glance, markets appear to suggest exceptional exuberance has presided over 2024,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho Bank.

“Notably, U.S. bulls high on American exceptionalism have not trampled on ebullience elsewhere.”

Japan’s Nikkei jumped 0.95% and was on track to end the year with an 18% gain. [.T]

China’s CSI300 blue-chip index ticked up 0.08%, while the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.14%, with both headed for yearly gains of more than 10% each, helped by a step-up in support from Chinese authorities in recent months to shore up an ailing economy.

Elsewhere, bitcoin fell 0.37% to $98,071, extending its decline from a record high above $100,000 on the back of the Fed’s hawkish repricing.

Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in international payments following legislative changes that allowed such use in order to counter Western sanctions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

In commodities, Brent crude futures rose 0.08% to $73.64 a barrel, while U.S. crude gained 0.1% to $70.17 per barrel. [O/R]

Spot gold ticked 0.5% higher to $2,626.19 an ounce. [GOL/]

(Reporting by Rae Wee; Editing by Jamie Freed and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A power cable linking Finland and Estonia under the Baltic Sea suffered an outage, prompting an investigation, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Wednesday.

Writing on X, Orpo said that power transmission through the Estlink-2 cable stopped Wednesday and that authorities were “investigating the matter.” He said the interruption would not affect electricity supplies in Finland.

Estonian network operator Elering said there was enough spare capacity to meet power needs on the Estonian side, public broadcaster ERR said on its website.

Authorities have been on edge about undersea infrastructure in the Baltic. Two data cables, one running between Finland and Germany, the other between Lithuania and Sweden, were severed in November.

Germany’s defense minister said officials had to assume the incident was “sabotage,” but without providing evidence or saying who might have been responsible. The remark came during a speech in which he discussed hybrid warfare threats from Russia.

The Nord Stream natural gas pipelines that once brought natural gas from Russia to Germany were damaged by underwater explosions in September 2022. Authorities have termed it sabotage and launched criminal probes.

The Estlink-2 cable was down for much of this year to repair damage from a short circuit that may have been caused by the cable’s complex positioning, ERR reported.

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BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Thursday in thin post-Christmas holiday trading, while oil prices rose.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.2% lower after markets were closed Wednesday for the Christmas holiday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index surged 1.1% to 39,568.06, on strong gains in retailers and tourism-related stocks after Japan agreed to ease visa conditions for Chinese tourists.

Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, a major department store group, gained 7.7%. J. Front Retailing Co., owner of the Matsuzakaya and Daimaru department store groups, jumped 8.3%. Automakers also saw large gains.

China and Japan also agreed Wednesday to conduct talks on contentious security issues and other sources of friction during a visit by Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya to Beijing, where he met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.4% to 2,429.67, while the Taiex in Taiwan gained 0.1%.

The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher, to 3,398.08.

Thailand’s SET fell 0.1%.

Markets were closed Thursday in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.

U.S. markets will reopen Thursday, when an update on U.S. unemployment benefits is due.

Gains in Big Tech stocks have contributed to a “Santa rally” for Wall Street. The S&P 500 gained 1.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.3%.

Also early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil was up 32 cents at $70.42 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 31 cents to $73.48 per barrel.

The dollar rose to 157.34 Japanese yen from 157.19 yen. The euro fell to $1.0396 from $1.0410.

The year’s end historically has been a very cheerful season for the U.S. markets. The last five trading days of each year, plus the first two in the new year, have brought an average gain of 1.3% since 1950.

So far this month, the U.S. stock market has lost some of its gains since President-elect Donald Trump’s win on Election Day, which raised hopes for faster economic growth and more lax regulations that would boost corporate profits. Worries have risen that Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation, a bigger U.S. government debt and difficulties for global trade.

Even so, the U.S. market remains on pace to deliver strong returns for 2024. The benchmark S&P 500 is up 26.6% so far this year and remains within roughly 1% of the all-time high it set earlier this month — its latest of 57 record highs this year.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Nippon Steel said on Thursday it has extended the closing period for its $15 billion purchase of U.S. Steel, expressing confidence that the acquisition will protect and grow the American company.

The estimated closing date was revised to the first quarter of 2025 from the third or fourth quarter of 2024 previously.

On Monday, a U.S. foreign investment committee referred the decision whether to approve or block the deal to U.S. President Joe Biden, who has 15 days to decide.

Biden and his incoming successor, Donald Trump, have both expressed opposition to the purchase.

“Nippon Steel hopes that the President will use this time to conduct a fair and fact-based evaluation of the acquisition. We remain confident that the acquisition will protect and grow U.S. Steel,” Nippon Steel said on Thursday.

It added that the review process of the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice was also underway, without specifying when it may end.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift and Katya Golubkova; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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For Makenzie Gilkison, spelling is such a struggle that a word like rhinoceros might come out as “rineanswsaurs” or sarcastic as “srkastik.”

The 14-year-old from suburban Indianapolis can sound out words, but her dyslexia makes the process so draining that she often struggles with comprehension. “I just assumed I was stupid,” she recalled of her early grade school years.

But assistive technology powered by artificial intelligence has helped her keep up with classmates. Last year, Makenzie was named to the National Junior Honor Society. She credits a customized AI-powered chatbot, a word prediction program and other tools that can read for her.

“I would have just probably given up if I didn’t have them,” she said.

Artificial intelligence holds the promise of helping countless other students with a range of visual, speech, language and hearing impairments to execute tasks that come easily to others. Schools everywhere have been wrestling with how and where to incorporate AI, but many are fast-tracking applications for students with disabilities.

Getting the latest technology into the hands of students with disabilities is a priority for the U.S. Education Department, which has told schools they must consider whether students need tools like text-to-speech and alternative communication devices. New rules from the Department of Justice also will require schools and other government entities to make apps and online content accessible to those with disabilities.

There is concern about how to ensure students using it — including those with disabilities — are still learning.

Students can use artificial intelligence to summarize jumbled thoughts into an outline, summarize complicated passages, or even translate Shakespeare into common English. And computer-generated voices that can read passages for visually impaired and dyslexic students are becoming less robotic and more natural.

“I’m seeing that a lot of students are kind of exploring on their own, almost feeling like they’ve found a cheat code in a video game,” said Alexis Reid, an educational therapist in the Boston area who works with students with learning disabilities. But in her view, it is far from cheating: “We’re meeting students where they are.”

Ben Snyder, a 14-year-old freshman from Larchmont, New York, who was recently diagnosed with a learning disability, has been increasingly using AI to help with homework.

“Sometimes in math, my teachers will explain a problem to me, but it just makes absolutely no sense,” he said. “So if I plug that problem into AI, it’ll give me multiple different ways of explaining how to do that.”

He likes a program called Question AI. Earlier in the day, he asked the program to help him write an outline for a book report — a task he completed in 15 minutes that otherwise would have taken him an hour and a half because of his struggles with writing and organization. But he does think using AI to write the whole report crosses a line.

“That’s just cheating,” Ben said.

Schools have been trying to balance the technology’s benefits against the risk that it will do too much. If a special education plan sets reading growth as a goal, the student needs to improve that skill. AI can’t do it for them, said Mary Lawson, general counsel at the Council of the Great City Schools.

But the technology can help level the playing field for students with disabilities, said Paul Sanft, director of a Minnesota-based center where families can try out different assistive technology tools and borrow devices.

“There are definitely going to be people who use some of these tools in nefarious ways. That’s always going to happen,” Sanft said. “But I don’t think that’s the biggest concern with people with disabilities, who are just trying to do something that they couldn’t do before.”

Another risk is that AI will track students into less rigorous courses of study. And, because it is so good at identifying patterns, AI might be able to figure out a student has a disability. Having that disclosed by AI and not the student or their family could create ethical dilemmas, said Luis Pérez, the disability and digital inclusion lead at the Center for Accessible Technology.

Schools are using the technology to help students who struggle academically, even if they do not qualify for special education services. In Iowa, a new law requires students deemed not proficient — about a quarter of them — to get an individualized reading plan. As part of that effort, the state’s education department spent $3 million on an AI-driven personalized tutoring program. When students struggle, a digital avatar intervenes.

More AI tools are coming soon.

The U.S. National Science Foundation is funding AI research and development. One firm is developing tools to help children with speech and language difficulties. Called the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education, it is headquartered at the University of Buffalo, which did pioneering work on handwriting recognition that helped the U.S. Postal Service save hundreds of millions of dollars by automating processing.

“We are able to solve the postal application with very high accuracy. When it comes to children’s handwriting, we fail very badly,” said Venu Govindaraju, the director of the institute. He sees it as an area that needs more work, along with speech-to-text technology, which isn’t as good at understanding children’s voices, particularly if there is a speech impediment.

Sorting through the sheer number of programs developed by education technology companies can be a time-consuming challenge for schools. Richard Culatta, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, said the nonprofit launched an effort this fall to make it easier for districts to vet what they are buying and ensure it is accessible.

Makenzie wishes some of the tools were easier to use. Sometimes a feature will inexplicably be turned off, and she will be without it for a week while the tech team investigates. The challenges can be so cumbersome that some students resist the technology entirely.

But Makenzie’s mother, Nadine Gilkison, who works as a technology integration supervisor at Franklin Township Community School Corporation in Indiana, said she sees more promise than downside.

In September, her district rolled out chatbots to help special education students in high school. She said teachers, who sometimes struggled to provide students the help they needed, became emotional when they heard about the program. Until now, students were reliant on someone to help them, unable to move ahead on their own.

“Now we don’t need to wait anymore,” she said.

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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BEIJING (Reuters) -China revised upwards its 2023 gross domestic product (GDP) by 2.7% to 129.4 trillion yuan ($17.73 trillion), a top statistics official said on Thursday, while releasing the fifth national economic census.

Policy support late this year has set China’s economy on track to hit a growth target of “around 5%” as activity warmed slightly, but challenges such as potential U.S. tariff hikes still weigh on prospects for next year.

Kang Yi, the head of the National Bureau of Statistics, made the remarks at a press conference in Beijing, the capital, adding that the bureau would publish further details of the revision on its website in the next few days.

China’s economy has “withstood the test of multiple internal and external risks over the past five years, and maintained a generally stable trend while progressing,” Kang said.

The fifth economic census carried out over the past five years encompassed the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on the economy, he said.

The international environment had witnessed “profound and complex changes” since the previous such census, he added.

The revision of 2023 GDP would not have a significant impact on China’s 2024 GDP growth rate, Lin Tao, the bureau’s deputy head, told the same briefing, however.

On Thursday, the World Bank raised its forecast for China’s economic growth in 2024 and 2025, but warned that subdued household and business confidence, along with headwinds in the property sector, would keep weighing it down next year.

The economic census showed changes in China’s job market, with 25.6% more people employed in the tertiary industries at the end of 2023 than at the end of 2018, but secondary industries had 4.8% fewer employees.

As a severe property crisis hobbles a macroeconomic rebound, employees of property developers fell 27% to 2.71 million by the end of 2023 against the corresponding 2018 figure, the economic census data showed.

Overall employment in the property industry rose 40.2% to stand at 1.04 million by the end of 2023 over the figure at the end of 2018.

Tertiary industries range from retail to transport, catering, accommodation, finance and property, while secondary industries cover mining, manufacturing, utilities and construction, for example.

($1=7.2992 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Writing by Ellen Zhang; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Clarence Fernandez)

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Just about everyone dreams about cars they wish they could own, and there’s no better time than the holidays to make a list of vehicles you’d love to have in your driveway. The car pros at Edmunds rounded up five of their favorite dream-worthy vehicles. But rather than just list the most outlandish and expensive exotics, they focused on highlighting models that are expensive but not so pricey that it’d be completely unrealistic for you to own one one day. The vehicles are ordered in ascending order of price and include destination fees.

Off-road trucks look fantastic and are extremely capable. What truck enthusiast wouldn’t have one topping their wish list? The king of the hill for 2025 is the F-150 Raptor R. The regular Raptor is already impressive, and the R takes it to the next level with a bonkers 720-horsepower supercharged 5.2-liter V8 engine, upgraded Fox dual-value shock absorbers, and massive 37-inch all-terrain tires. An R-specific grille and hood are also part of the R’s upgrades.

Thankfully, the Raptor R isn’t all bark and bite. It also has plenty of features to make it a livable truck for daily driving. Standard features include leather upholstery, cooling front seats, a premium sound system, and a surround-view camera to help make this big truck easier to park.

Starting Price: $112,825

Few sedans can match the Mercedes-Benz S-Class for opulence, luxury and prestige. This grand sedan showcases nearly every luxury, technology and performance innovation that Mercedes-Benz has concocted. Everything you touch inside is likely covered in leather, heated, or bathed in disco-worthy ambient light.

A novel could be written about all of the S-Class’ luxury and comfort features, but one of the most notable is the E-Active Body Control system. It scans the road surface ahead and adjusts the suspension to deliver the best ride possible. The S-Class also boasts an extensive list of advanced safety features and has an augmented reality head-up display that projects images that appear to float in front of the car. For the ultimate S-Class, get the 791-horsepower AMG S 63 E Performance model.

Starting Price: $118,900

Who needs a European exotic car when the Corvette ZR1 is just as capable? A sports car fanatic’s wish list wouldn’t be right without the ZR1. The new Corvette hit a record-setting top speed of 233 mph, making it the fastest car ever built by an American automaker and the fastest current production car priced under $1 million, according to Chevrolet.

The top speed record was possible thanks to the ZR1’s turbocharged 5.5-liter V8 engine that cranks out a staggering 1,064 horsepower. Its carbon-fiber aero package kept it glued to the track by generating over 1,200 pounds of downforce at top speed. Chevrolet also says the ZR1 can accelerate through the quarter mile in less than 10 seconds. We expect the Corvette ZR1 to go on sale in early 2025.

Estimated starting price: $150,000

Does your wish list include a big and powerful SUV? If it does, the Escalade-V should top it. The big Caddy roars like a muscle car thanks to its supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that churns out 682 horsepower and helps it hit 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds. The Escalade-V also boasts enormous 24-inch wheels and large Brembo brakes that help bring the three-ton SUV to a stop.

But the Escalade-V isn’t only about brute power. It also has three rows of seating, plenty of cargo space and offers impressive tech like Super Cruise, a hands-free highway driving system, and an enormous 55-inch curved display that spans the dashboard.

Starting Price: $161,990

What if we told you there was a car that could outpace almost anything on a drag strip, keep up with high-end sports cars on a racetrack, and be comfortable enough for daily errands? Well, if that sounds amazing, add the Air Sapphire to your dream list.

The Air Sapphire is a high-performance electric luxury sedan made by Lucid, an electric vehicle startup. It’s one of the most powerful production cars in the world, producing an astonishing 1,234 horsepower from its three electric motors. Lucid says it has a top speed of 205 mph and can rocket to 60 mph in a mind-numbing 1.9 seconds. You can adjust the vehicle’s setting for exceptional track performance or simply provide a comfortable ride around town.

Starting price: $250,500

Even if you can’t afford any of these vehicles, you can still picture one sitting in your driveway or imagine yourself cruising around town in it. And who knows, maybe holiday magic will give you the opportunity to own one in the future.

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This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.

Michael Cantu is a contributor at Edmunds.

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