Stocks Rangebound Before Fed Minutes, Silver Gains: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Global stocks struggled for momentum amid a lack of positive catalysts heading into the end of the year. Silver and gold regained their footing after a plunge from fresh all-time highs.

The MSCI All Country World Index barely budged after losing 0.2% on Monday, which marked its first drop in eight sessions. S&P 500 futures were little changed. Contracts on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index were down 0.1%, as was a gauge of Asian shares. In currency markets, China’s onshore yuan strengthened beyond the key 7-per-dollar level for the first time since 2023.

Tuesday marks the last trading session of the year for several equity markets, including in Japan, South Korea and Thailand. Focus will later shift to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting, where it delivered a third consecutive interest-rate reduction and maintained its outlook for just one cut in 2026.

Despite the recent moves, global equities remained on track for a third straight annual gain following this year’s strong rally in shares linked to the artificial intelligence theme. Up 21% in 2025, MSCI Inc.’s world gauge is set for its best performance since 2019.

“The pullback looks like healthy consolidation rather than a change in trend,” said Mohit Mirpuri, a senior partner at SGMC Capital in Singapore.

If history is any guide, investors have reasons to be optimistic heading into the new year. The gauge has climbed an average 1.4% in the last 10 January months, advancing in six of the instances, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

On Wall Street too, a consensus is taking hold that US stocks will continue rallying in 2026, even though the S&P 500 Index’s 17% advance this year means it has underperformed many global peers. Despite a raft of risks spanning a potential bust in the AI advance to unanticipated policy shocks, sell-side strategists are forecasting another 9% average gain in the gauge next year.

Silver, Gold

Precious metals continued to be a focus for investors, with trading having turned volatile ahead of year-end following their relentless rally in 2025.

Silver rebounded about 4% on Tuesday after tumbling 9% in the previous session. The selloff in the white metal had followed a historic surge powered by speculative trades and fears of a supply shortage. Gold was up 0.7% after losing more than 4% on Monday.

Among other metals, copper headed for the longest winning run since 2017 in a December rally boosted by the prospect of more stress in the supply chain. Nickel hit the highest since March after top producer Indonesia flagged plans to cut supply in order to boost prices.

Meantime, President Donald Trump teased that he has a preferred candidate to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, but is in no hurry to make an announcement — while also musing that he might fire the central bank’s current leader, Jerome Powell.

Investors were also assessing the outlook for US interest rates and monetary policy. Wall Street rate strategists — with several notable exceptions — expect stable-to-higher Treasury yields in 2026 despite Fed cuts.

Elsewhere in markets, Bitcoin fluctuated. The cryptocurrency topped $90,000 in the last session before erasing its gain. A gauge of the dollar edged lower. Oil held a gain as traders weighed geopolitical tensions from Venezuela to Russia and Iran against concerns about a glut.

Corporate Highlights:

Artificial intelligence’s insatiable appetite for data storage has delivered Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings Corp. world-beating stock gains this year, a sign that the AI boom is alive and well despite recent market jitters. Shares of biotech startup Insilico Medicine Cayman TopCo, which uses AI to improve drug discovery, surged as much as 48% in their trading debut in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Ganfeng Lithium Co., a major Chinese producer of the battery material, said it faces possible insider-trading charges. Vietnamese electric-vehicle taxi operator Green & Smart Mobility JSC, which is owned by the country’s richest man, is weighing an international initial public offering that could value the company at about $20 billion. Meta Platforms Inc. has agreed to acquire Singapore-based AI startup Manus, which makes an artificial intelligence agent that it sells to small and medium-sized businesses. Citigroup Inc. said it expects to post a roughly $1.1 billion after-tax loss on the sale of its remaining business in Russia to Renaissance Capital. SoftBank Group Corp. is in advanced talks to acquire DigitalBridge Group Inc., a private equity firm that invests in assets such as data centers, according to people with knowledge of the matter. DigitalBridge jumped more than 40% in premarket trading. A supplier to Tesla Inc. ended up providing a tiny fraction of battery material the carmaker ordered almost three years ago, in part due to issues with the Cybertruck, according to a person familiar with the matter. LG Electronics Inc. introduced a TV designed to resemble framed artwork, imitating a style that has been popularized by rival Samsung Electronics Co. in recent years. Stocks

S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 6:57 a.m. London time Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.1% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was little changed Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.1% The Shanghai Composite was little changed Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1779 The Japanese yen was little changed at 156.04 per dollar The offshore yuan rose 0.1% to 6.9871 per dollar The British pound was little changed at $1.3518 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 0.1% to $87,319.51 Ether rose 0.3% to $2,943.17 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.11% Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.83% Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.49% Australia’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 4.75% Commodities

Spot gold rose 0.8% to $4,365.33 an ounce West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $57.98 a barrel This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Abhishek Vishnoi and Nicholas Reynolds.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.