By Dow Jones Newswires Staff
Global markets and U.S. futures rose on the back of a broad rally in U.S. stocks Thursday, with major indexes climbing in Asia and Europe. The Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts Wednesday, and language suggesting a more dovish approach than expected going into 2026, sparked gains for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Index which fed through into global markets. A wobble in U.S. tech stocks wasn't enough to throw off the gains, though the tech-heavy Nasdaq traded down premarket.
--The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 look set to extend their Thursday rally, with the indexes climbing 0.3% and 0.05% premarket respectively after hitting new highs Thursday. Futures for the Nasdaq trade down 0.14%, extending its fall from Thursday.
-- Asian markets closed broadly up, making up for losses Thursday though Japan's Nikkei closed down 0.9%. South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.3%, while China's Shanghai Composite climbed 0.7%. The country's tech-heavy ChiNext index was up 1%, despite faltering tech stocks in the U.S. Tech startup Moore Threads traded down 13% after a bumper week of trading. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 1.75%. On the currency front, the yen weakened 0.1% against the dollar to 155.67 yens. In the bond markets, the two-year Japanese government bond yield rose 1.78 basis points to 1.071% and the 10-year JGB yield rose 2.13 basis points to 1.952%.
--European indexes rose across the board at open. Spain's IBEX 35 continued its strong run, gaining 0.6% on the back of gains for industrial and financial companies. The Dutch AEX climbed 0.3%, with technology investor Prosus gaining 2.05% even after a broad Oracle-induced hit to U.S. tech stocks Thursday. Italy's FTSE MIB rose 0.7%, with gaming company Lottomatica up 2.5% out the blocks. The German DAX gained 0.4%. The French CAC 40 was up 0.45%, the while U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.4% on strong gains from miners.
--The dollar remained weak after reaching a nearly eight-week low in the previous session, dented by expectations for further interest rate cuts following the Federal Reserve's latest decision and worse-than-expected weekly jobless claims data. The DXY dollar index traded steady at 98.362 after reaching a low of 98.134 on Thursday.
--Sterling edged lower after data showed the U.K. economy unexpectedly contracted in October, further boosting the prospect of another Bank of England interest-rate cut next week. Gross domestic product fell 0.1% month-on-month in October. Economists in a WSJ survey expected a 0.1% rise. Sterling fell to an intraday low of $1.3371 after the data, from $1.3393 beforehand, and last traded at $1.3385. The euro last traded at 0.8769 pounds after hitting an intraday high of 0.8774.
--Long-dated U.S. Treasury yields traded higher before European opening. The two-year Treasury yield was stable at 3.530%, while the 10-year yield was up 1.8 basis points at 4.158% and the 30-year yield rose 1.9 basis points to 4.808%.
--Yields on eurozone government bonds rose, tracking moves in U.S. counterparts. Moves are limited as investors brace for a busy week next week, which will include a European Central Bank announcement and U.S. inflation data. The 10-year German Bund yield rose 0.9 basis points to 2.854%.
--Yields on U.K. government bonds were little changed following the U.K.'s GDP print, with ten-year gilt yields trading at 4.477%.
--Gold prices were on track for a weekly gain after the Federal Reserve's quarter-point interest-rate cut this week and as investors hope for further easing next year. Futures in New York rose 0.2% to $4,322.20 a troy ounce in early trading and were up 1.9% on the week. Meanwhile, silver futures traded at a record high of $64 an ounce.
--Oil prices rose in early trading, but are poised for a significant weekly loss amid diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine and overall bearish fundamentals pointing to an oversupplied market next year. Brent crude was up 0.5% to $61.59 a barrel, while WTI gained 0.6% to $57.77 a barrel. The oil benchmarks, though, were down 2.6% and 3.2% on the week.
--Bitcoin fell 0.5% to $92,459 on concerns about lofty artificial intelligence-related stocks following results from Oracle and Broadcom.
Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-12-25 0442ET
