Global Markets Mixed as Bets on December Rate Cut Rise

By Dow Jones Newswires Staff

U.S. stock futures were flat early in European business hours Tuesday and international equities were mixed amid further signs of returning calm after last week's volatility. Broad gains in tech stocks contributed to a higher close on Wall Street in the prior session, alongside growing bets on a December rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended up 2.7%, its biggest intraday gain since the spring, as concerns about frothy valuations amid the artificial-intelligence boom eased further.

The U.S. dollar and Treasury yields were steady ahead of U.S. economic data, while bitcoin continued to slip.

Alibaba reports earnings at 5.40 am ET followed by Best Buy, Kohl's and Abercrombie & Fitch. HP and Dell report after the close.

--U.S. futures for the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.1%. Changes in futures do not necessarily predict movements after the opening bell.

--In Asia, stock markets closed mostly higher, supported by technology stocks that tracked the gains on Wall Street. South Korea's Kospi closed 0.3% higher, while Japan's Nikkei, which opened higher, pared most of its gains to close 0.1% up. Index-heavy SoftBank Group closed nearly 10% lower amid concerns that OpenAI could face competition from Alphabet's AI unit. The Hang Seng ended up 0.7%, with shares of Alibaba Group continuing their rally after the company said on Monday that its Qwen AI app had more than 10 million downloads.

--In Europe, the pan-regional Stoxx Europe 600 edged up 0.1% in morning trading with major bourses trading either side of flat. Semiconductor stocks were up around 1.0% while defense stocks gained after Monday's falls. Novo Nordisk's shares were up 0.8% in early trade after closing down nearly 6.0% after it reported a drug failure in an Alzheimer's trial on Monday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.1%.

--The U.S. dollar was steady ahead of U.S. economic data that could influence expectations for the Federal Reserve's December meeting. Delayed September retail sales and producer price index data will be released followed by the Conference Board's consumer confidence survey. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Monday, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said she supports an interest-rate cut in December and Fed governor Christopher Waller also called for an imminent cut. The chance of a reduction rose to above 80% Monday, according to interest-rate futures prices tracked by CME, up from 42% a week ago.

--U.S. Treasury yields edged marginally higher; the two-year Treasury yield was recently up 0.8 basis point to 3.496%, while the 10-year Treasury yield was up 0.4 basis point at 4.039%, according to Tradeweb data. There's an auction of $70 billion in five-year notes.

--Bitcoin fell again after failing to sustain a recovery overnight. The cryptocurrency "remains on track for its worst monthly performance since 2022, having lost nearly 20% since the start of the month," Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note. It was last down 1.2% to $87,773, according to LSEG data. It reached a seven-month low of $80,553 Friday.

--Yields on U.K. government bonds were little changed ahead of Wednesday's U.K. budget. A measure of expected price swings in the options market, or implied volatility, for the euro-sterling exchange rate, meanwhile, were rising ahead of the budget, ING's Francesco Pesole said in a note.

--In commodities, oil prices slipped following Monday's gains, with investors keeping a close eye on Ukraine-Russia developments. Gold prices were up on the growing expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates further. Futures in New York gained 0.5% to $4,107.30 a troy ounce.

Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 25, 2025 04:34 ET (09:34 GMT)