Global stock markets pause their upward trend, gold and silver hit new highs, the yen rebounds strongly, oil stabilizes after consecutive gains, and cryptocurrencies face pressure

Strong corporate earnings and expectations for monetary easing have jointly driven global stock markets to rise for four consecutive days, setting new records. The MSCI All Country World Index rose, having previously set a new closing record on the prior trading day. Market expectations for a "soft landing" of the U.S. economy, along with the outlook for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in 2026, have alleviated valuation pressures and boosted risk appetite. Meanwhile, gold and silver prices have reached new highs.

On December 23, U.S. stock index futures slightly retreated after a rise in overnight U.S. stocks, European stock indices fell, while most Asian stock indices rose. U.S. Treasury yields declined, the dollar weakened, and the yen strengthened. Gold, silver, and copper all rose, while oil stabilized after four consecutive days of increases. Cryptocurrencies faced pressure.

The Federal Reserve's policy path and the outlook for capital expenditures in the artificial intelligence sector remain the two core factors currently dominating market sentiment. Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Milan stated that unless the Fed continues to cut interest rates next year, there is a risk of the economy falling into recession.

Ken Wong, an expert in Asian equity investment at East Asia Investment in Hong Kong, stated:

"Although we have seen some pullbacks in the artificial intelligence sector and some weak sentiment, we believe that 2026 will still be quite strong, as companies are still investing a considerable amount of capital expenditure in the AI field."

Core market trends are as follows:

• U.S. stock index futures collectively fell, with Dow futures down nearly 0.1%, S&P 500 futures down 0.14%, and Nasdaq futures down 0.15%.
• The Euro Stoxx 50 index opened flat, the German DAX index opened flat, the UK FTSE 100 index fell 0.15%, and the French CAC 40 index fell 0.1%.
• The Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.02% at 50,412.87 points, the Tokyo Stock Exchange index rose 0.5% to 3,423.25 points, and the Seoul Composite Index closed up 0.3% at 4,117.32 points.
• The dollar index fell below 98, hitting a 5-day low, down 0.3% intraday, the yen rose 0.6% against the dollar to 156.09, the offshore yuan rose above 7.02 against the dollar during the day, reaching a new high since October 2024, up over 110 points intraday, and the pound rose 0.3% against the dollar to 1.3502, the highest level since October 2.
• The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond decreased by 1 basis point to 4.15%, while the yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond fell by 5 basis points to 2.03%.
• Spot gold rose 0.85% to $4,481.5 per ounce, spot silver rose nearly 0.4% to $69.34 per ounce, London copper rose 0.14% to $11,942 per ton, and Brent crude oil fell over 0.2% to $61.44 per barrel.
• Bitcoin fell 1% to $87,363.32, and Ethereum fell 0.9% to $2,959.42.

U.S. stock index futures slightly retreated in pre-market trading after a rise in overnight U.S. stocks. On Monday, driven by investor optimism, the S&P 500 index had recovered all losses from December and was on track for its eighth consecutive month of gains, which would be the longest monthly winning streak since 2018. Tesla and Nvidia have become the main leaders in this round of large-cap stock increases After another year of strong performance in the stock market, the current focus is on whether investors can sustain this optimism into 2026. Fund managers are continuously increasing their stock positions while keeping cash holdings at historically low levels. Despite technology stock valuations being high, expectations for further gains in the stock market continue to dominate market sentiment. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve's policy path is under close scrutiny, with the market widely expecting two rate cuts next year.

Novo Nordisk's European stock rose 7%, mainly driven by the approval of the company's weight loss drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. According to Wallstreetcn, on Monday, December 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Denmark's pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk's first oral GLP-1 weight loss drug.

This approval also temporarily puts Novo Nordisk ahead in the fierce competition with its main rival Eli Lilly. According to Bloomberg, Eli Lilly's own oral weight loss drug is expected to be approved in March next year. This means Novo Nordisk has a valuable window of several months to consolidate its first-mover advantage in the oral medication market, which is becoming the next core battleground for the two giants after injectables.

The yen strengthened for the second consecutive day, with the dollar-yen exchange rate briefly breaking the 156 mark. On Monday, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki clearly stated that Japan has the "free hand" to take bold actions regarding exchange rate fluctuations that deviate from economic fundamentals. Previously, despite the Bank of Japan raising borrowing costs to the highest level in 30 years, the yen depreciated rather than appreciated, not only weakening against the dollar but also hitting a historical low against the euro.

According to Bloomberg, Suzuki pointed out in an interview on Monday that the recent market fluctuations are clearly speculative rather than reflective of fundamentals. She emphasized that Japan has clearly stated it will take "bold actions" in response to this trend, according to the joint statement from the finance ministers of Japan and the United States.

Spot gold has once again reached a historic high. Driven by expectations of further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in 2026 and geopolitical tensions near Venezuela, the price of spot gold today briefly touched a historic high of $4,486 per ounce, marking over 50 record highs this year

Spot silver also reached a new high, briefly breaking $70 per ounce.

After four consecutive days of increases, crude oil stabilized. According to Wall Street Insight, the United States intercepted Venezuelan oil tankers three times in two weeks, Israel is brewing a new round of actions against Iran, and Ukrainian drones struck Russian ports in the Black Sea. A series of geopolitical conflict risks reignited market concerns over crude oil supply, overshadowing worries about weak fundamentals, leading to a significant rise in oil prices on Monday.