Market Highlights

Signs the US jobs market is sluggish, but not quickly deteriorating saw traders refraining from boosting bets on near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts, with stocks falling and bonds wavering. A noisy reading reflecting some of the impacts of the longest government shutdown in US history was received by traders with caution. The S&P 500 fell for a third straight day. Treasury yields edged mildly down as swaps implied only 20% odds of a January Fed cut. A reduction is fully priced in by mid-2026. Nonfarm payrolls increased 64,000 in November after declining 105,000 in October amid a contraction in federal employment. The jobless rate rose to 4.6% last month, continuing its upward climb as many out-of-work Americans struggled to land new jobs.

The last full trading week of 2025 started with stocks, bonds and the dollar wavering as Wall Street geared up for key economic data that will help shape the Federal Reserve rate outlook. On the eve of the jobs report, the S&P 500 closed mildly lower. A renewed tech slide saw Broadcom Inc. posting its worst three-day plunge since 2020. Oracle Corp. extended its multi-session selloff to about 17%. A rout in cryptocurrencies also kept a lid on riskier assets. Stocks declined and the dollar hovered near two-month lows as investors reined in risk ahead of key US economic data that will offer clues on the path for interest rates.

Wall Street traders took profits on the year’s biggest artificial intelligence winners, dragging global gauges back from the brink of record highs. Longer-dated bond yields climbed. A disappointing sales outlook from Broadcom Inc. sent the chipmaker tumbling 11% and weighed on rivals, further fueling investor anxiety over AI wagers initially prompted by Oracle Corp. The AI bellwether’s stock drop started Thursday following a forecast for rising capital outlays and a longer timeline to a revenue payoff. The slump deepened Friday on a report of delays to some of Oracle’s data center projects. Shares of companies tied to the AI power infrastructure also slid. The Nasdaq 100 slid 1.9% while The S&P 500 fell 1.1% after the index had notched a record close in the previous session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 pulled back from all-time highs.

Bonds rose and stocks jumped as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for a third consecutive time, and after Chair Jerome Powell voiced optimism that the economy will strengthen as the inflationary impact from tariffs proves temporary. The S&P 500 closed 0.7% higher, just short of all-time highs. The Nasdaq 100 ended the day in the green while the Russell 2000 gauge of small-caps jumped 1.3% to a record. Oracle Corp. fell more than 6% in afterhours trading after second-quarter revenue missed estimates. The company’s fate is deeply tied to the artificial intelligence boom and a downbeat earnings could bleed through to other AI wagers. The equity rally spurred by a US interest-rate cut and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s sanguine economic outlook unraveled after Oracle Corp. reignited concerns about the vast spending tied to artificial intelligence.

With less than 24 hours to go until the Federal Reserve’s finalinterest-rate decision of 2025, Wall Street traders put off placing big bets as they waited for clues to the central bank’s path for next year. The S&P 500 ended Tuesday’s session little changed after JPMorgan Chase & Co. warned about higher-than- expected costs and called consumers “fragile.” The lender fell more than 4%. The blue-chip Dow slid while the Nasdaq 100 made a small advance. The rate on 10-year Treasuries hovered at around 4.19% following a government bond auction, while the dollar was little changed and Bitcoin climbed. Stocks are marking a second straight day of restrained moves as traders await the Fed’s outlook for interest rates in 2026 after an expected cut at Wednesday’s policy announcement.

Wall Street anxiety halted a four-day rally in US stocks while Treasuries joined a global bond slump ahead of the Federal Reserve’s finalmeeting of 2025. While an interest-rate cut is all but certain, traders are growing anxious about the pace of next year’s cuts. The S&P 500 slid 0.3% Monday after the equities benchmark closed within spitting distance of an all-time high. A busy merger Monday failed to bolster the mood after President Donald Trump raised potential antitrust concerns on Netflix Inc.’s planned takeover of the Hollywood studios and streaming business of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and Paramount Skydance Corp. stepped in with its own hostile bid. Global stocks wavered while Treasury yields edged higher again as traders grew anxious about the pace of easing by the Federal Reserve beyond this week’s near-certain interest-rate cut.

The stock market crept higher, but stopped short of records Friday, as traders refrained from making big bets ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cut decision next week. Treasuries notched their worst week since June. The S&P 500 notched small gains and remains within a whisker of October’s all-time high. The Nasdaq 100 advanced 1% this week while the Russell 2000 gauge of smaller companies pulled back from Thursday’s closing record. Treasuries extended losses with the yield on the 10-year climbing roughly four basis points to 4.14% Stocks advanced on Monday as traders prepared to navigate a heavy slate of central bank decisions this week, including one where the Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates.

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.

Wall Street staged a cautious rebound, with the S&P 500 stuck in a tight trading range despite a rally in cryptocurrencies that followed a rough start to December. Bonds and the dollar stabilized. While the US equity benchmark rose for the sixth time in seven sessions, most of its firmsdropped. Apple Inc. led gains in megacaps, but Tesla Inc. fell as Michael Burry called the shares “ridiculously overvalued.” Boeing Co. surged 10% as it expects to generate cash again in 2026. Asian stocks traded within tight ranges on Wednesday, mirroring moves on Wall Street as investors remained cautious ahead of a slew of US economic data.

The start of a historically strong month on Wall Street saw stocks falling as traders shunned riskier corners of the market amid a selloff in cryptocurrencies. A rout in Japanese debt rippled through global bonds. Caution prevailed after a rally that drove the S&P 500 to its longest streak of monthly gains since 2021. The Russell 2000 gauge of small caps slid over 1%. Nearly $1 billion of leveraged crypto positions were liquidated during a sharp drop in prices that brought fresh momentum to a wide- ranging industry plunge. Bitcoin sank to around $85,000. Asian stocks rose, recovering from a selloff on Monday that saw cryptocurrencies lead declines in global risk assets. Japanese government bonds advanced after a keenly watched 10-year auction drew firmdemand.