Asian Stocks Head for Highest Close in a Month: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks rallied after gauges of US and global equities hit fresh records, with sentiment boosted by this week’s Federal Reserve’s rate cut and its upbeat assessment of the US economy.

MSCI Inc.’s index of Asian shares was up 0.9% on Friday, poised for its highest close since Nov. 14. Japan’s Topix led regional gains and approached an all-time high, with financials favored on bets that a Bank of Japan interest-rate hike next week is all but certain. Chinese equities on the mainland underperformed after the nation’s leadership signaled it will maintain economic support but refrain from ramping up stimulus next year.

While the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to an all-time high on Thursday, some caution for tech names persisted. Shares of Broadcom Inc., a chip company vying with Nvidia Corp. for AI computing revenue, slid in late trading after its sales outlook for red-hot market failed to meet investors’ lofty expectations. S&P 500 futures were steady on Friday though contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2%.

The MSCI All Country World Index — one of the broadest measures of the stock market — edged 0.1% higher on Friday after closing at a record in the previous session. Up nearly 21% in 2025, it is on track for its best year since 2019. Meanwhile, the Asian gauge is less than 2% away from an all-time high reached in late October.

“The momentum should continue into year-end. With rate cuts underway, a new Fed chair on deck, and earnings trending higher, the bull market looks positioned to extend into 2026,” said Gina Bolvin, President of Bolvin Wealth Management Group. “As more companies adopt AI, participation should broaden and sectors beyond the Magnificent Seven may start to show strength.”

Delivering a third consecutive interest-rate reduction on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell voiced optimism that the US economy will strengthen as the inflationary impact from tariffs fades away. While officials maintained their outlook for just one cut in 2026, traders have stuck to bets for two such moves.

The Fed now expects the US economy to grow by 2.3% next year, up from its previous projection of 1.8%, while anticipating that the pace of inflation will slow to 2.4%.

An index of the dollar traded around a two-month low on Friday and was on track for a third weekly loss. Yields on 10-year Treasuries were steady after a small gain on Thursday, when data showed that initial jobless claims rose more than expected in the Dec. 6 week.

In Asia, Thailand’s currency and stocks advanced after Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolved parliament late Thursday, setting the stage for an early election after reports of a key political party backing his minority government moving to withdraw its support.

Elsewhere, the Malaysian ringgit reached the strongest level against the dollar in more than four years, reflecting optimism on the Southeast Asian country’s economy and easing trade tensions.

In commodities, copper steaded after climbing to a fresh record high on Thursday as most other industrial metals rose after the Fed move. Gold edged lower after three days of gains, supported by the prospect of further monetary easing in the US, while silver traded near a record high. Oil rallied from its lowest close in almost two months and Bitcoin flip-flopped in a tight range around $92,500.

The tech sector continued to be on traders’ radar after dominating much of the recent market action following Oracle Corp.’s results — which brought worries about valuations and whether heavy spending on AI infrastructure will pay off back into focus.

A gauge of technology stocks in Asia underperformed the broader market on Friday after Broadcom’s late slide in the US.

“We’ve cut a little bit of our equity exposure into the end of the year just because we are worried a bit about the AI wobble, about the uncertainty around the Fed,” Ben Bennett, head of investment strategy for Asia at Legal & General Investment Management Ltd., said on Bloomberg Television. “But our more neutral position going into next year would be to add a little bit of risk and just hold that neutral over the course of the year.”

Corporate News

Moore Threads Technology Co. shares slumped as much as 19% Friday, after the Chinese artificial intelligence chipmaker warned investors about elevated trading risks following huge gains. SoftBank Group Corp. is studying potential acquisitions including data center operator Switch Inc., as billionaire founder Masayoshi Son ramps up the search for deals that can help it ride the AI-fueled boom in digital infrastructure, people with knowledge of the matter said. Walt Disney Co. is licensing iconic characters including Mickey Mouse and Cinderella to OpenAI for use on its artificial intelligence video platform and has agreed to take a $1 billion stake in the startup. Huawei Technologies Co. and manufacturing partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. are making advances in chip production technology despite US attempts to limit their progress, according to analysis of a new phone’s components by research firm TechInsights. China’s internet search leader Baidu Inc. is seeing a fresh wave of bullish calls from analysts thanks to the possible listing of its chip unit Kunlunxin. OpenAI is rolling out a new artificial intelligence model designed to make ChatGPT better at coding, science and a wide range of work tasks, weeks after Alphabet Inc.’s Google put the startup on defense with the well-received launch of Gemini 3. Sembcorp Industries Ltd. agreed to buy Australian power generator and retailer Alinta Energy Pty for A$6.5 billion ($4.3 billion) in enterprise value, furthering the Singaporean company’s ambitions to expand outside its home market. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 1:57 p.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix rose 1.5% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.1% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.4% The Shanghai Composite was little changed 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 fell 0.1% to 155.75 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0529 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $92,361.76 Ether was little changed at $3,248.77 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.15% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.73% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $58.02 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.3% to $4,267.42 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Joanna Ossinger, Richard Henderson and Catherine Ngai.

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