Overnight US stocks | Unexpected slowdown in core inflation in November, three major indices closed higher. Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT.US) surged by 41.93%.

On Thursday, the three major indexes closed higher, with the core inflation in the United States in November showing the lowest year-on-year increase since early 2021. The unexpected improvement in the inflation situation raised suspicions among economists that the data may be distorted due to the government shutdown. According to data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday, the core Consumer Price Index (CPI) excluding volatile food and energy prices increased by 2.6% year-on-year in November, while the overall CPI increased by 2.7% year-on-year. However, several economists pointed out that prices in the housing category, which is one of the largest components of the CPI, remained relatively flat over the past two months, casting doubt on the entire estimation. Paul Ashworth, Chief North American Economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a report, "This may indeed reflect a genuine easing of inflation pressures, but such a sudden stall, especially in more sustainable service items like rents, is highly unusual, at least outside of a recession. The ultimate result is that we may have to wait until next month when December data is released to confirm whether this is a statistical anomaly or a genuine downward trend in inflation." [US Stock Market] As of the close, the Dow Jones rose by 65.88 points, or 0.14%, to 47,951.85 points; the Nasdaq rose by 313.04 points, or 1.38%, to 23,006.36 points; and the S&P 500 rose by 53.33 points, or 0.79%, to 6,774.76 points. Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) rose by 10.21%, Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT.US) surged by 41.93%, Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) rose by 3.45%, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) rose by 1.87%, and Circle (CRCL.US) rose by 2.26%. [European Stock Market] Germany's DAX30 index rose by 247.41 points, or 1.03%, to 24,203.12 points; the UK's FTSE 100 index rose by 63.23 points, or 0.65%, to 9,837.55 points; France's CAC40 index rose by 64.59 points, or 0.80%, to 8,150.64 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose by 60.79 points, or 1.07%, to 5,742.46 points; Spain's IBEX35 index rose by 194.16 points, or 1.15%, to 17,132.36 points; and Italy's FTSE MIB index rose by 353.02 points, or 0.80%, to 44,452.50 points. [Asia-Pacific Stock Market] The Nikkei 225 index fell by over 1%, the KOSPI index in South Korea fell by over 1.5%, and Indonesia's composite index fell by 0.68%. [Foreign Exchange Market] The US dollar index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, rose by 0.06% on the day and closed at 98.425 in the forex market. At the end of the New York forex market, 1 euro exchanged for 1.1725 US dollars, lower than the previous trading day's 1.1745 US dollars; 1 pound exchanged for 1.3386 US dollars, higher than the previous trading day's 1.3378 US dollars. 1 US dollar exchanged for 155.52 Japanese yen, lower than the previous trading day's 155.63 Japanese yen; 1 US dollar exchanged for 0.7940 Swiss francs, lower than the previous trading day's 0.7953 Swiss francs; 1 US dollar exchanged for 1.3781 Canadian dollars, lower than the previous trading day's 1.3789 Canadian dollars; 1 US dollar exchanged for 9.2846 Swedish kronor, lower than the previous trading day's 9.2984 Swedish kronor. [Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin fell by 1%, hitting a low of $84,450.02 during trading; Ethereum fell by 0.3%, hitting a low of $2,776.02. [Precious Metals] Spot gold fell by 0.14% to $4,332.48. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. stated that the bullish trend in gold futures prices reaching record highs by 2025 may continue into next year. In a 2026 outlook report released on Thursday, the firm stated, "Our base case scenario forecasts a 14% increase in gold prices by December 2026, reaching $4,900 per troy ounce, with upside risks." Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. expects central banks worldwide to continue their demand for gold in 2026, with an average monthly purchase of 70 metric tons. The main drivers of this demand are political instability at GEO Group Inc and countries' willingness to hedge risks by increasing their gold reserves. [Crude Oil] Light crude oil futures prices for January 2026 delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 21 cents to close at $56.15 per barrel, an increase of 0.38%; Brent crude oil futures prices for February delivery on the London Mercantile Exchange rose by 14 cents to close at $59.82 per barrel, an increase of 0.23%. [Macro News] The UK increased its holdings of US Treasury bonds in October, while Canada's monthly holdings fluctuated by over $50 billion again. US Treasury data showed that in October, the UK, the second-largest holder of US government debt, increased its holdings by $13.2 billion to reach $877.9 billion. Canada's holdings, on the other hand, decreased by $56.7 billion to $419.1 billion. As a neighboring country to the US, Canada's data has been fluctuating this year, with monthly changes exceeding $50 billion frequently. Japan's holdings of US Treasury bonds increased from $1.189 trillion in September to $1.2 trillion in October. China's holdings decreased from $700.5 billion in September to $688.7 billion in October. Concerns about foreign selling have given extra attention to the amount of US debt held this year, although Treasury Secretary Benson frequently refutes the notion of "dumping America." The Bank of Mexico cut interest rates for the twelfth consecutive time. The Bank of Mexico cut interest rates for the twelfth consecutive time on Thursday, hinting at a pause in further rate cuts before taking any more action. With a vote of 4 to 1, the Monetary Policy Committee lowered the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 7%, the lowest level in three and a half years. While not ruling out the possibility of further rate cuts in the future, the bank stated that it would "assess the timing of any subsequent adjustments." The committee will carefully evaluate the impact of the tax hikes and tariff increases scheduled to take effect in January on inflation, but expects the impact on prices to be "temporary and not necessarily linear." Due to the slower-than-expected pace of inflation in the services sector, the bank raised its inflation forecast for the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first half of 2026, but still expects inflation to reach the target of 3% in the third quarter of next year, while noting that the risks to the inflation outlook are skewed to the upside. European Central Bank officials expect interest rates to remain stable in 2026 but do not rule out the possibility of rate cuts. According to three sources, European Central Bank decision-makers expect to keep interest rates unchanged next year, but due to the highly uncertain economic outlook, they are not ready to completely rule out the possibility of further rate cuts. The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday and raised some economic growth and inflation forecasts, leading investors to believe that the door to further rate cuts had been closed. However, sources indicated that decision-makers at the meeting were not willing to announce the end of the easing cycle, as uncertainty remains high. Nonetheless, the most likely outcome is that interest rates will remain unchanged throughout 2026, in line with market expectations. Most policymakers believe that the risks to economic growth prospects are broadly balanced, although some believe actual growth may be lower than the ECB's own forecast levels. There is less disagreement on inflation, with most officials seeing inflation risks as balanced. [Stock News] Michigan regulators approve DTE Energy Co.'s request to provide power support for Oracle Corporation and OpenAI's large data center development project. Michigan regulators have approved a request from DTE Energy Co. to provide power support for a large data center development project planned by Oracle Corporation and OpenAI. DTE had applied to regulators for expedited approval of their power supply plan to support a facility in Saline Township that is expected to cost billions of dollars and have a capacity of 1.4 gigawatts (GW). According to OpenAI and Oracle Corporation, the Stargate campus in Saline Township will expand their partnership's planned capacity to over 8 GW across the United States and bring in over $450 billion in investment over the next three years. Meta is developing a new model codenamed Mango, expected to be released in the first half of next year. Meta is reportedly developing a new artificial intelligence model codenamed Mango for images and videos, accompanied by the company's next-generation large language model. According to sources, Meta's Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang discussed these AI models during an internal Q&A session with the company's Chief Product Officer Chris Cox on Thursday. These models are expected to be released in the first half of 2026. Nike, Inc. Class B's quarterly revenue exceeds expectations, but the Chinese market and Converse brand continue to struggle. Nike, Inc. Class B reported sales in the latest quarter that exceeded expectations, showing progress in its efforts to turn around its business, but the weakness in the Chinese market and the Converse brand still persist. In the second quarter, the company's revenue grew by 1% to $12.4 billion, surpassing analysts' average expectations. Earnings per share also exceeded expectations. However, direct-to-consumer sales fell short of expectations. As a result, Nike, Inc. Class B's stock price fell by 5% in after-hours trading. The stock has already fallen by 13% since the beginning of the year and may post its fourth consecutive annual decline. Nike, Inc. is currently focusing on core sports projects and key cities, while rebuilding relationships with retail partners in order to regain growth and regain the favor of investors and consumers. Despite the company gaining momentum, management still faces questions regarding the performance of the Converse brand (sales declined by 30% in the current period) and the Chinese market. Microsoft Corporation, Alphabet Inc. Class C, and 24 other companies join the US artificial intelligence "Genesis Mission." Twenty-four top artificial intelligence companies have signed up to join the US government's "Genesis Mission," an initiative from the Trump administration to promote the use of emerging AI technologies for scientific discovery and energy projects. According to a White House statement, companies like OpenAI, Microsoft Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, Amazon.com, Inc. Cloud Services (AWS), and Alphabet have either signed memoranda of understanding with the government, are already collaborating on projects with the Department of Energy and national laboratories, or have expressed interest in participating in the program. Michael Kratsios, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said, "The Genesis Mission will help American scientists automate experiment design, accelerate simulation computations, and generate predictive models that can drive breakthroughs in energy, manufacturing, pharmaceutical research, and other fields." Last month, Trump announced the launch of the program through an executive order, aiming to better coordinate research efforts across government agencies and more effectively integrate AI tools to achieve more scientific breakthroughs. Kratsios stated at the time that the effort will leverage resources from the Department of Energy's national laboratories, harness federal datasets, advance more AI-based experiments, and is expected to shorten the time cycle for scientific discoveries.