Overnight US stocks | This Wednesday, all three major indices saw gains, while spot gold fell below the $4200 mark.

date
07:00 06/12/2025
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GMT Eight
As of the close, the Dow rose 104.05 points, up 0.22%, to 47,954.99 points; the Nasdaq rose 72.99 points, up 0.31%, to 23,578.13 points; the S&P 500 index rose 13.28 points, up 0.19%, to 6,870.40 points.
On Friday, the three major indexes closed higher. This week all three major indexes recorded gains, as investors await the December Federal Reserve interest rate meeting scheduled for next week. Data released on Friday showed that consumer spending in the US stagnated in September, indicating that Americans have begun to control their spending in the face of stubborn inflation ahead of the government shutdown. The core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, excluding food and energy, rose by 0.2% in September compared to August, with a year-on-year increase of 2.8%. US StocksAt the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 104.05 points, up 0.22%, to 47954.99 points; the Nasdaq rose by 72.99 points, up 0.31%, to 23578.13 points; the S&P 500 rose by 13.28 points, up 0.19%, to 6870.40 points. All three major US stock indexes recorded gains this week. The S&P 500 index rose by 0.31%, while the Nasdaq and Dow rose by 0.9% and 0.5% respectively. European StocksThe Germany DAX30 index rose by 133.70 points, up 0.56%, to 24028.06 points; the UK FTSE 100 index fell by 44.62 points, down 0.46%, to 9666.25 points; the France CAC40 index fell by 7.29 points, down 0.09%, to 8114.74 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose by 4.42 points, up 0.08%, to 5722.50 points; the Spain IBEX35 index fell by 64.07 points, down 0.38%, to 16682.53 points; the Italy FTSE MIB index fell by 86.07 points, down 0.20%, to 43433.00 points. Crude OilWTI futures for January delivery rose by 0.69% to $60.08 per barrel, showing that with the difficulty of reaching a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, there is still a risk premium. Brent crude oil futures for February delivery rose by 0.49% to $63.75 per barrel. Negotiators from Ukraine continued talks with US officials on the second day in Florida, while Russia opposed certain terms of the peace plan supported by the US. The market is paying attention to the negotiation process, as progress could ease sanctions on Russia, while more Russian oil flooding the market could further drag down oil prices at a time when oversupply is expected. A survey by institutions shows that OPEC's crude oil production remained stable last month as the organization maintained a cautious strategic approach amidst a weak global oil market. According to the survey, OPEC's average daily production in November was slightly higher than 29 million barrels, approximately the same as last month. Despite OPEC and its partners agreeing to continue to increase oil production in the last three months of the year, they have chosen to significantly slow down the pace of production growth after a surge in production in previous months. The global oil market is showing signs of oversupply, and many forecasting agencies expect the oversupply to increase next year, as the supply growth of OPEC and its competitors will exceed consumption growth. The survey shows that the UAE increased its daily production by 60,000 barrels in November, to 3.61 million barrels per day, significantly higher than its OPEC+ quota. However, the slight increase in production in the UAE was offset by slight reductions in production by several OPEC members, including Iran, Gabon, and Saudi Arabia. CryptocurrencyBitcoin fell by more than 3%, to $89285.08; Ethereum fell by more than 3%, to $3029.27. Precious MetalsSpot gold fell by 0.23%, to $4199.2 per ounce, reaching a high of $4259.42 per ounce intraday. Macro News Core PCE inflation in September cools, clearing the way for a rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week. The Federal Reserve's favored inflation gauge remained below 3% in September, showing moderate monthly price increases, which may not hinder the Federal Reserve from considering a rate cut at its meeting next week. The US Department of Commerce said on Friday that the PCE price index for September recorded a monthly increase of 0.3%, pushing the annual rate up from 2.7% in August to 2.8%. The core PCE annual rate, excluding volatile food and energy prices, fell from 2.9% in August to 2.8%. The monthly price increase was largely in line with Wall Street's forecasts. Normally, the Federal Reserve would have a full understanding of inflation in October and employment in November before holding its last meeting of the year. However, the government shutdown delayed the release of this data, forcing the Federal Reserve to weigh its next steps based on outdated official economic indicators. At next week's meeting, Federal Reserve officials will discuss how to balance between high inflation and a cooling labor market, a challenging dynamic that poses threats to the Federal Reserve's two main goals. US consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in December, with overall sentiment still cautious. Joanne Hsu, the director of the University of Michigan consumer survey, said consumer confidence rose by 2.3 points to 53.3 in early December, within the margin of error. The growth this month was mainly concentrated among younger consumer groups. While views on the current situation changed little, there were improvements in expectations - personal financial expectations rose by 13%, and improvements were seen across all age, income, educational background, and political leanings groups. However, the personal financial expectations index in December was nearly 12% lower than at the beginning of the year. Although labor market expectations improved slightly, they remained relatively subdued. Consumers believe that some indicators improved slightly from November, but overall sentiment remains generally cautious, with the burden of high prices still a major pressure point. Looking ahead, the one-year inflation expectation fell from 4.5% in November to 4.1% in December, the lowest level since January 2025, marking four consecutive months of decline, but short-term inflation expectations remain higher than 3.3% in January. Long-term inflation expectations fell from 3.4% in November to 3.2% in December, consistent with the reading in January 2025. Surprisingly strong employment data has traders fully pricing in a rate hike by the Bank of Canada before October 2026. The market increasingly expects that the next move by the Bank of Canada will be a rate hike next year, as unexpectedly strong performance in the Canadian labor market suggests that further monetary policy easing may not be necessary despite US tariffs. Overnight swap traders have fully priced in expectations for a rate hike by the Bank of Canada before October 2026. Just one day ago, the market still saw the possibility of a rate cut by the Bank of Canada in the next year. Earlier, the Canadian unemployment rate unexpectedly fell by 0.4 percentage points in November, with job growth stronger than expected. Bonds were sold off across the board, with the five-year benchmark government bond yield rising by 20 basis points intraday. ECB Governing Council member Villeroy: Downside risks to inflation greater than upside risks. European Central Bank Governing Council member Villeroy said that the risks of inflation slowing down are greater than the risks of inflation accelerating, and the central bank will take action if inflation continues to remain below the 2% target. The French central bank governor pointed out that a stronger euro and falling imported goods prices from China could reduce the consumer price increase by 0.2 percentage points in 2027, while warning that further slowdown in wage growth could bring downward pressure. He said that upside risks include supply chain fragmentation and a surge in German government spending. "The downside risks to the inflation outlook are at least as significant as the upside risks, and we will not tolerate inflation persisting below the target," Villeroy said. Compared to other ECB members, his comments are more dovish. Villeroy said that believing the ECB will tolerate inflation below but close to 2% in the long term is a "misunderstanding." He emphasized that it is wrong to focus on the magnitude of such deviations, and what matters is their persistence. Individual Stock News Netflix (NFLX.US) acquires Warner Bros (WBD.US), pushing global M&A volume close to a historic peak in 2021. Driven by a series of end-of-year transactions, as of Thursday, December 4, this year's global M&A volume has reached $3.3 trillion, up 37% from 2024 and likely to become the best-performing year since 2021 ($3.8 trillion). The data shows that this growth is more pronounced in the US, with M&A among US companies increasing by 53% to nearly $1.8 trillion, slightly below the peak level of 2021. Netflix acquired Warner Bros and its parent company, Discovery, for $72 billion on December 5, highlighting how under the Trump administration, corporate giants are engaging in bold, game-changing mergers.