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

(Bloomberg) — US equity-index futures edged higher at the start of the last full trading week of 2025. Gold neared a record high.

Contracts for the S&P 500 advanced 0.2%, following losses of more than 1% on Friday. European stocks climbed 0.3%. The 10-year Treasury yield ticked lower and a gauge of the dollar was little changed. Gold was up a fifth day around $4,339 an ounce.

Global risk appetite has ebbed on doubts the tech stocks that have propelled global benchmarks to record highs still warrant their lofty valuations and aggressive AI spending. This week, US payrolls and inflation data will give traders more clues on the nation’s economic health, while a final flurry of major central bank policy decisions is due, including from the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan.

“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,” said Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com, referring to the typical year-end gains for stocks.

Chinese indexes edged lower after the latest data showed retail sales growth was the weakest since Covid, while investment slumped further. Asian shares also dropped, tracking Wall Street’s losses on Friday, with South Korea — a poster child for AI exuberance — slipping 1.8%.

The US data due this week will go a long way to filling the void created by the US government shutdown, with the delayed announcements of monthly employment and inflation figures, followed by more key jobs data in early January. 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.

Traders will also be watching to see if last week’s tech-driven retreat extends. 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.

“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.

Corporate News:

Distressed developer China Vanke Co. said it would improve on plans to push back a looming bond payment after creditors rejected its initial proposal, raising the risk of default. 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. Roadside recovery business AA is working with advisers at Rothschild and JPMorgan on options for the business, the Financial Times reported. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3% as of 8:10 a.m. London time S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.1% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.7% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 1.2% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1729 The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 155.22 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0471 per dollar The British pound was little changed at $1.3363 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 1.4% to $89,689.43 Ether rose 1.5% to $3,129.92 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.17% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.85% Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.50% Commodities

Brent crude rose 0.4% to $61.36 a barrel Spot gold rose 1% to $4,341.29 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Matthew Burgess, Abhishek Vishnoi and Winnie Hsu.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.