US Stock Futures Rise After Tech Rout, Gold Climbs: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — US equity-index futures rose as the final full trading week of 2025 began, after worries over earnings of technology companies and heavy AI spending sparked a selloff on Wall Street.

Contracts for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 indexes advanced 0.2%, after the gauges retreated more than 1% Friday, along with tech stocks. Asian shares followed on Monday, with South Korea — a poster child for AI exuberance — slipping 1.2%. Futures also indicated gains for European stocks at the open.

Global risk appetite has been ebbing amid skepticism that tech stocks, which have propelled global benchmarks to record highs, can continue to warrant their lofty valuations and aggressive AI spending. Much of that investment reflects a long-term bet on technologies that may take years to generate meaningful commercial returns, adding to near-term uncertainty.

“The ‘Santa rally’ can’t get off the ground amid fresh AI valuation fears,” said Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com, referring to the typical year-end gains for stocks. “While hardly as high-stakes as last week, there’s enough event risk there to keep investors on their toes, possibly providing the spark for that Santa Rally – or equally, a deepening selloff.”

From a recent selloff in the shares of Nvidia Corp., to Oracle Corp.’s plunge after reporting mounting spending on AI, to souring sentiment around a network of companies exposed to OpenAI, signs of skepticism are increasing. Looking to 2026, the debate among investors is whether to rein in AI exposure ahead of a potential bubble popping, or to double down to capitalize on the game-changing technology.

The queasiness about the AI trade involves its uses, the enormous cost of developing it, and whether consumers ultimately will pay for the services. Those answers will have major implications for the stock market’s future.

“We view investors’ recent anxieties as the ‘indigestion’ phase of a massive technological adoption cycle, rather than the end of the story,” wrote veteran strategist Ed Yardeni of his eponymous firm Yardeni Research. Last week, Yardeni went underweight on the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ megacap technology companies.

What Bloomberg’s Strategists Say…

Global equities are likely to retreat this week as the shift toward tighter monetary policy in many parts of the world removes a key support just as jitters about the AI boom drain momentum from this year’s stocks rally. Stocks face a fair chance this year’s peaks are in, spurring investors to favor taking some of this year’s gains and cashing them out.

— Garfield Reynolds, MLIV Asia Team Leader. Click here for the full analysis.

Elsewhere, Chinese indexes edged lower after the latest data showed retail sales growth was the weakest since Covid, while investment slumped further.

In other corners of the market, gold was set for a fifth day of gains after conflicting remarks from Federal Reserve officials prompted traders to curb bets on further monetary easing in the US next year.

The yellow metal has surged more than 60% this year and silver has more than doubled — with both on track for their best annual performances since 1979. Copper rose along with zinc and aluminum as investors refocused on prospects for a tighter market in 2026.

Treasuries edged higher, while a gauge of the dollar was little changed ahead of US payrolls and inflation data due later this week that will give traders more clues on the health of the world’s biggest economy. This week, the final flurry of major central bank policy meetings is due, including those from the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan.

The big debate in the US Treasury market over the extent of Fed rate cuts is about to heat up with a string of key economic data releases.

This week will go a long way to filling in the data void created by the US government shutdown, with the delayed announcements of monthly employment and inflation figures, and then early January brings more key jobs data. The reports will help answer the overarching question entering 2026 of whether the Fed is close to being done easing, after three straight cuts, or if it has to move more aggressively.

Corporate News:

China Vanke Co., the nation’s last major developer to have so far avoided default amid an unprecedented property crisis, has been left with little time to keep debt failure at bay after creditors spurned its proposal to push back a looming bond payment. Fortescue Ltd. has agreed to acquire Canada-based explorer Alta Copper Corp. in a deal that marks the Australian company’s first major foray beyond iron ore into other metals. iRobot Corp. filed for bankruptcy after reaching a restructuring support agreement that will hand control of the consumer robot maker to Shenzhen PICEA Robotics Co., its main supplier and lender, and Santrum Hong Kong Co. Chinese consumer stocks advance after the government said it will increase financial support for key consumption areas. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% as of 1:58 p.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix rose 0.1% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.1% Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.4% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1733 The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 155.25 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0472 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 1.4% to $89,690.95 Ether rose 1.4% to $3,125.06 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.17% Japan’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.950% Australia’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.73% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $57.73 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.6% to $4,326.09 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Matthew Burgess and Abhishek Vishnoi.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.