Market Highlights

More evidence of a slowdown in the US jobs market reinforced bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in its final policy meeting of 2025, driving stocks higher as bond yields fell alongside the dollar. Almost 350 shares in the S&P 500 rose despite weakness in most megacaps. Nvidia Corp.’s Jensen Huang is unsure whether China would accept its H200 chips should the US relax restrictions. Microsoft Corp. slid 2.5% on a report of lower demand for some artificial-intelligence tools even as the company said aggregate sales quotas for AI products have not been reduced. Stocks rose, led by gains in Japan, amid signs a rally in global equities is broadening into the year-end. The yuan slipped after China set its daily reference rate for the currency at a level that was significantly weaker than estimated by traders and analysts.