* US spending bill clears first hurdle in Senate to avoid government shutdown
* Fed’s Waller expects rate cuts this year
* China Q4 GDP growth annual growth ticks up to 5.2%–slower than expected
* Population in China fell for second straight year in 2023
* Fund managers are bullish on small cap stocks: BofA managers survey
* NY Fed Manufacturing Index plunges in January to lowest level since 2020:

Red Sea crisis poses risk for oil market, says Chevron’s CEO. Noting that he’s surprised to see the US benchmark for oil trading below $73 a barrel, he advises: “It’s a very serious situation and seems to be getting worse,” Michael Wirth told CNBC on Tuesday in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “So much of the world’s oil flows through that region that were it to be cut off, I think you could see things change very rapidly.”