Global Markets Rise Despite Concerns Over Potential AI Bubble

By Dow Jones Newswires Staff

U.S. stock futures rose at the start of Thanksgiving week following last week's volatile trading and international markets were mostly higher. U.S. stocks closed up Friday after New York Fed President John Williams said that another near-term rate cut could be warranted, although all of the major indexes were lower on week amid persistent concerns about a potential bubble in artificial-intelligence stocks.

Another batch of retailers report this week, while on Tuesday Alibaba, Dell, Workday and HP all have earnings. The stock market will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and will have a short session on Friday.

Meanwhile, bitcoin continued to slip and the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields were steady. Ahead of a crucial U.K. budget on Wednesday, U.K. sovereign bond yields and sterling were also steady.

--U.S. futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.7% and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4% while futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose just shy of 1.0%. Changes in futures do not necessarily predict movements after the opening bell.

--The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.6% shortly after the open, as France's CAC 40 gained 0.5% and Germany's DAX added 1.0%. Bayer jumped nearly 10% after it said it had had positive results in late-stage clinical trials for a drug to reduce the risk of stroke. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.4%.

--Stock markets in Asia were mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended up 2.0%, with Alibaba Group adding 4.7% after its Qwen, an AI app aiming to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT, hit 10 million downloads within one week of its public beta launch. Shares in mainland China also closed higher. Still, South Korea's Kospi ended down 0.2% after giving up earlier gains. Japan's Nikkei was closed due to the Labor Thanksgiving Day holiday.

--Bitcoin remained under pressure after the cryptocurrency hit a seven-month low on Friday, reflecting broader risk aversion and stalled regulatory momentum, institutional outflows, thinning liquidity and profit-taking by long-term holders, Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note. "While volatility remains inherent, these conditions indicate bitcoin's portfolio integration is being tested, and raises questions of whether this is a temporary correction or a more prolonged adjustment." Bitcoin was recently down 1.2% to $86,991, having reached a low of $80,553 Friday, according to LSEG data.

--U.S. Treasury yields were steady with auctions of two-year, five-year and seven-year notes coming ahead of Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday. The 10-year Treasury yield was last at 4.061%, having fallen to a three-week low of 4.036% on Friday, according to Tradeweb data. The U.S. dollar was also flat against a basket of major currencies.

--Yields of U.K. sovereign bonds, or gilts, were steady to start the week but risk staying elevated after Wednesday's budget due to increased political risk, economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics said in a note. The U.K. Debt Management Office is due to auction gilts maturing in March 2031 on Tuesday. Sterling was flat. "U.K. government bonds and sterling will be sensitive to how an inevitable fiscal tightening looks and whether the fiscal gap is plugged sufficiently," Danske Bank analysts said.

--Oil prices slipped in early trading, extending last week's fall as investors assess prospects of a Ukraine-Russia peace deal. Brent crude was last down 0.4% to $61.68 a barrel, while WTI fell 0.5% to $57.79 a barrel. "Developments related to a potential peace agreement are important for the oil market, particularly amid significant uncertainty about the impact of recently imposed sanctions on Russia's Rosneft and Lukoil," ING analysts said.

--Gold prices slipped, with New York futures down 0.5% to $4,060.20 a troy ounce and spot gold down 0.3% to $4,065.01 an ounce.

Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 24, 2025 04:31 ET (09:31 GMT)