2025-12-10 05:12

Fed lowers rates, signals pause and one 2026 cut US stocks end higher after Fed decision, Powell comments Dollar, yields fall NEW YORK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Major stock indexes jumped while U.S. Treasury yields declined on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates as expected and investors remained hopeful about further cuts ahead, even as the central bank signaled it will likely pause reductions for now. The U.S. dollar was lower against major currencies. Sign up here. The U.S. central bank cut rates by a quarter percentage point, and projections issued after its two-day meeting showed the median policymaker sees just one quarter-percentage-point cut in 2026, the same outlook as in September. In his press conference after the announcement, Fed Chair Jerome Powell declined to provide guidance on whether another interest rate cut lies in the near future. However, he said the U.S. labor market has significant downside risks and the central bank does not want its policy to push down on job creation. Stocks gained while Treasury yields lost ground following Powell's comments. "Today's rate cut was music to both the bond market and the stock market's ears," said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "The guidance for possibly one cut in 2026 is better than many dire predictions of no cuts in 2026, so there's a lot of good news to parse through here for investors." Weakness in the job market seemed to be more of a concern at this point than sticky inflation, Dollarhide said, adding there were "tremendous fears the bond vigilantes were going to hijack this bull market rally." The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 497.46 points, or 1.05%, to 48,057.75, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab rose 46.17 points, or 0.67%, to 6,886.68 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab rose 77.67 points, or 0.33%, to 23,654.16. Seasonally, December is one of the months of weaker performance for the S&P 500, except for the final two weeks when stocks tend to rise into year-end, known as the Santa rally, as investors square their books for the year. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab rose 5.30 points, or 0.53%, to 1,011.74. Earlier, the pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab index ended 0.07% higher. The market has priced in a 78% chance the Fed will hold rates steady next month, compared with a 70% probability just before the rate cut announcement. Even though the rate forecast from the Fed was for one rate decline next year, the rate futures market still priced in two cuts in 2026. The Fed's decision to cut by 25 basis points drew three dissents. Complicating matters for policymakers is the lack of data due to the recent long U.S. government shutdown, which will delay November payrolls report to December 16, while inflation figures are due after that. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note fell 4.3 basis points to 4.143% after swinging between a session low of 4.137% and a three-month high of 4.209%. The 10-year yield was poised to snap a four-session streak of gains, its longest run of gains in five weeks. Yields around the globe have been climbing in recent weeks, as many central banks signaled they are either at or near the end of their own easing cycles, while the Bank of Japan is widely anticipated to hike rates at its policy meeting next week. The U.S. dollar fell against major peers including the euro, Swiss franc, and Japanese yen. The greenback was further weighed down by Powell's comments that the U.S. central bank's next move is unlikely to be a rate hike. In late afternoon trading, the dollar was down 0.8% against the Swiss franc to 0.8000 franc and was last down 0.6% at 155.92 against the Japanese yen . The euro last changed hands at $1.1691, up 0.6%, while the dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, slid 0.6% to 98.66. Gold prices reversed course to rise after the Fed's rate cut. Spot silver rose to a record peak of $61.85, with prices up 113% so far this year. In the energy market, oil prices rose after officials said the U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Brent crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $62.21 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 21 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $58.46 per barrel. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-global-markets-2025-12-10/

2025-12-10 04:44

TOKYO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The governor of Japan's Hokkaido prefecture said on Wednesday he has approved the restart of Hokkaido Electric Power's (9509.T) , opens new tab Tomari nuclear power plant in northern Japan. Naomichi Suzuki announced his consent at a live-streamed prefectural assembly. Sign up here. The local consent was the last major step for restarting the 912-megawatt No.3 reactor, which has been offline since 2012 amid Japan's broader push to strengthen nuclear safety following the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. Hokkaido Electric plans to complete construction of a seawall by March 2027 and aims to restart the reactor as soon as possible thereafter. The approval comes just weeks after another regional governor gave the green light for a partial restart of Tokyo Electric Power's (9501.T) , opens new tab Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/hokkaido-governor-approves-hokkaido-elec-tomari-nuclear-power-plant-restart-2025-12-10/

2025-12-10 00:12

Indexes mixed: Dow falls 0.38%, S&P 500 off 0.09%, Nasdaq adds 0.13% JPMorgan shares fall most since early April after expense comments U.S. to allow Nvidia H200 chip shipments to China Warner Bros fight heats up with $108 bln hostile bid from Paramount Investors assess JOLTS data Dec 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended Tuesday's session slightly lower as investors anticipated that the Federal Reserve would take a hawkish tone even if it cuts interest rates this week, while JPMorgan (JPM.N) , opens new tab was the heaviest drag on the benchmark index after the biggest U.S. bank warned of hefty expenses for 2026. The Fed kicked off its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday with traders widely expecting a quarter-percentage point rate cut despite inflation still running above the central bank's 2% target. Sign up here. Policymakers have sent mixed signals about the outlook with some warning that price pressures could easily reaccelerate, while others have been more concerned about the labor market's health. And Tuesday's Labor Department report did little to clear the air as job openings increased marginally in October, but hiring remained subdued. Separately, a National Federation of Independent Business , opens new tab (NFIB) report showed companies intending to create new jobs in the near future. "It appears that the bias for the market right now is that you're going to see a modestly less dovish Fed because of the job openings," said Jeff Schulze, head of economic and market strategy at ClearBridge. Traders are still pricing in a roughly 87% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut on Wednesday, according to CME's FedWatch Tool. But Schulze said that investors are now expecting "a higher likelihood of a pause after tomorrow's rate cut." Adding to nerves ahead of the Fed's update - due after its meeting ends on Wednesday - Justin Bergner, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds said that a rally in U.S. Treasury yields was also weighing on stocks. "It's not surprising the equity rally would stall ahead of the Fed and with bond yields continuing to rally," said Bergner. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was last up on the day at 4.18%, on track for its fourth straight day of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 179.03 points, or 0.38%, to 47,560.29, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab lost 6.00 points, or 0.09%, to 6,840.51 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 30.58 points, or 0.13%, to 23,576.49. The small-cap Russell 2000 index (.RUT) , opens new tab hit an intraday record high earlier on Tuesday before paring gains to close up 0.2%. After rising nearly 1% earlier in the day, the S&P 500 bank index (.SPXBK) , opens new tab weakened to finish down 2% after JPMorgan Chase's consumer and community banking chief Marianne Lake said the bank expects expenses to climb to about $105 billion in 2026, driven largely by growth and volume-related costs. JPMorgan shares closed down 4.7% for its biggest one-day percentage drop since April 4. Among the 11 S&P 500 industry sectors, five lost ground. Energy, which (.SPNY) , opens new tab ended up 0.7%, was the biggest gainer, while healthcare (.SPXHC) , opens new tab finished down close to 1% and was the biggest loser. Trading in technology shares was also choppy on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump said he would allow Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab, the leader in artificial intelligence chips, to ship H200 processors, its second-most powerful AI chips, to China for a 25% fee on those exports. But a Financial Times report said Beijing was set to limit access to those chips, while China hardliners in Washington slammed the Trump administration for its decision. Nvidia shares ended down 0.3% while the Philadelphia semiconductor index (.SOX) , opens new tab closed down 0.04%. Investor appetite for corporate spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure is likely to face greater scrutiny with results due from Oracle (ORCL.N) , opens new tab and Broadcom (AVGO.O) , opens new tab later this week. Traders also kept an eye on a bidding war between Paramount Skydance (PSKY.O) , opens new tab and Netflix (NFLX.O) , opens new tab over Warner Bros (WBD.O) , opens new tab. Warner finished up 3.8% while Paramount added 0.5% and Netflix fell 0.08%. Elsewhere, Campbell's (CPB.O) , opens new tab shares ended down 5.2% after the packaged-food maker said it selectively raised prices to counter higher costs. AutoZone (AZO.N) , opens new tab shares lost 7.2% after its quarterly results missed estimates. AutoZone, Campbell and JPMorgan were the S&P 500's biggest percentage losers on the day. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.14-to-1 ratio on the NYSE where there were 209 new highs and 56 new lows. On the Nasdaq, 2,642 stocks rose and 2,137 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.24-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and eight new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 100 new highs and 74 new lows. On U.S. exchanges, 14.50 billion shares changed hands compared with the 17.34 billion average for the last 20 sessions. https://www.reuters.com/business/wall-st-futures-flat-fed-decision-looms-nvidia-gains-2025-12-09/

2025-12-10 00:11

MEXICO CITY, Dec 9 - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday the country's economy will grow by 9% by the end of 2025, and will likely grow by 7% in 2026. "This year we will reach 18 consecutive [quarters] of growth. A growth rate of 9% is projected for 2025, and the Central Bank is already projecting 7% growth for 2026," Maduro said. Sign up here. Maduro, speaking during a televised forum with business leaders in the capital Caracas, did not provide further details. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/venezuelas-maduro-says-economy-grew-9-2025-will-grow-7-2026-2025-12-10/

2025-12-09 23:46

Dec 10 (Reuters) - The European Union has reached a legally binding climate agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 from 1990 levels, involving the purchase of foreign carbon credits to cover 5% of the cuts, the European Parliament said on Wednesday. The agreement will require EU industries to cut emissions by 85% and, from 2036, EU nations to pay non-member countries to cut emissions on their behalf to make up the remainder. Sign up here. The European Parliament and EU countries must each approve the target for it to become law - usually a formality that waves through pre-agreed deals. The agreement goes beyond most other major economies' emissions-cutting pledges. Still, the target fell short of that recommended by the EU's climate change science advisers and was weaker than an original goal, reflecting disagreement between EU governments over the speed and cost of their green agenda. "This agreement shows that climate, competitiveness and independence go hand in hand and sends a powerful message to our global partners. We agreed on a strong but realistic climate law," spokesperson for EU climate commission Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement. The target represented a political compromise after months of negotiations in which governments including those of Poland, Slovakia and Hungary opposed deeper carbon dioxide cuts as too strenuous for domestic industries struggling with high energy costs, cheaper Chinese imports and U.S. tariffs. Other EU members, including the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, cited worsening extreme weather events and the need to catch up with China in manufacturing green technology as reasons for the lofty target. To win over opponents, the EU also agreed to weaken other politically sensitive climate policies, such as by delaying the launch of a carbon price for fuel by one year to 2028. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/eu-agrees-climate-target-cut-emissions-90-by-2040-with-5-carbon-credits-2025-12-09/

2025-12-09 23:44

Dec 10 (Reuters) - Russia has sent a planeload of humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka after the island nation was struck by Cyclone Ditwah in late November, Russia's RIA news agency reported early on Wednesday, citing Shobini Gunasekera, Colombo's ambassador to Moscow. "A plane carrying 35 tonnes of humanitarian aid has already departed for Sri Lanka," Gunasekera told the news agency, adding that it was expected to arrive on Wednesday. Sign up here. Ditwah, which was Sri Lanka's deadliest natural disaster since the devastating 2004 tsunami, killed 635 people and affected about 10% of the population. It damaged critical infrastructure and key crops such as rice and tea. Local officials warn that recovery costs could reach $7 billion. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/russia-sends-aid-sri-lanka-after-devastating-cyclone-2025-12-09/