Global stocks hold steady after four-day rally: Markets Wrap

by Andre Janse van Vuuren and Sagarika Jaisinghani

A gauge of global equities held firm after four days of gains, following a recovery fueled by bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates faster than previously thought.

The MSCI All Country World Index was little changed after trimming its drop for November to 0.4% in the prior sessions. The gauge had been down nearly 4% for the month just over a week ago. European and Asian benchmarks posted modest moves, with US markets closed for Thanksgiving. S&P 500 futures were steady.

In another sign that risk appetite is returning, Bitcoin traded above $91,000 for the first time in a week. Gold was little changed and the dollar paused a two-day retreat.

The moves tracked firming expectations for Fed easing, with money markets now pricing in roughly an 80% chance of a quarter-point cut next month and leaning toward three more by the end of 2026. A week ago, traders were projecting only three cuts in total. It also signals fresh optimism after worries over stretched tech valuations hammered equities earlier in the month.

“We’re building up for a classic year-end rally,” said Daniel Murray, chief executive officer of EFG Asset Management Switzerland. “Our main scenario is one where actually the macro environment continues to hold up well into 2026, the corporate earnings outlook looks pretty decent and you get the added tailwind of the lagged effect of rate cuts.”

Among the more notable movers on Thursday, Japanese and South Korean equities outperformed their regional peers, with tech shares leading gains in both markets. In Europe, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.3% as Puma SE jumped 14% on takeover interest from multiple bidders.

UK gilts gave back some of Wednesday’s rally that followed the Autumn budget. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves carved out a larger fiscal buffer, which buoyed sentiment, even though the tax-raising steps required cast a shadow over the outlook for economic growth.

The pound was the weakest performer against the dollar among major currencies on Thursday, reversing part of its post-budget advance. The FTSE 100 edged lower.

“All told, we think the UK government did what it needed to do to keep UK bond markets on side,” wrote Bill Diviney, head of macro research at ABN AMRO. “While there is naturally some risk to this more backloaded fiscal consolidation round, it comes on top of an already considerable effort.”

Corporate News:

• China Vanke Co. was rejected by at least two big local banks as it tried to secure a short-term loan to quell the default fears that have fueled a plunge in its bonds this week, according to people familiar with the matter.
• Chinese sports apparel company Anta Sports Products Ltd. is among firms exploring a potential takeover of Puma SE, according to people familiar with the matter.
• JPMorgan Chase plans to build a new three-million square feet tower in London that would serve as its principal UK headquarters and could contribute about $13 billion to the local economy over six years, it said in a statement.
• A gauge of risk on Oracle Corp.’s debt reached a three-year high in November, and things are only going to get worse in 2026 unless the database giant is able to assuage investor anxiety about a massive AI spending spree, according to Morgan Stanley.
• SoftBank Group Corp.’s credit-default swaps climbed to the highest level since April, as investors turned cautious on the tech behemoth’s debt-fueled growth at a time of intensifying global competition.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.1% as of 10:04 a.m. London time
• S&P 500 futures were little changed
• Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2%
• The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was little changed

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1578
• The Japanese yen was little changed at 156.34 per dollar
• The offshore yuan fell 0.2% to 7.0804 per dollar
• The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3214

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 1.5% to $91,549.92
• Ether rose 0.2% to $3,028.51

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.99%
• Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 2.68%
• Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.46%

Commodities

• Brent crude was little changed
• Spot gold fell 0.1% to $4,157.83 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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