Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday as investors parsed fresh trade data from China. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 0.84%, while the CSI 300 rose 1.11% after China’s exports jumped more than expected in November. Outbound shipments surged 5.9% in November in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier, beating economists’ forecast for a 3.8% growth in a Reuters poll. That growth marked a rebound from an unexpected 1.1% drop in October, the first contraction since March 2024. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slid 0.14%, while the Topix added 0.25%. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.35%, and the small-cap Kosdaq traded 0.45% higher. Revisions released by Tokyo on Monday show Japan’s economy shrank more sharply between July and September than first estimated.
The S&P 500 edged higher on Friday, securing its fourth straight winning day, as traders digested inflation data that could provide further incentive for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates next week The broad market index closed 0.19% higher at 6,870.40, putting the index about 0.7% off its intraday record. Friday also marked its ninth positive session in 10. The Nasdaq Composite increased 0.31% to settle at 23,578.13, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 104.05 points, or 0.22%, to end the day at 47,954.99.
Gold prices rose above $4,200 per ounce on Monday after a weekly decline, as traders awaited the Federal Reserve’s final policy meeting of the year, where officials are widely expected to cut interest rates. Mixed US employment data and core inflation in line with expectations have supported the case for additional easing. Current market pricing implies an 88% probability of a 25bps cut in the 3.75% to 4.0% funds rate, with expectations of two more reductions next year. Aside from the rate decision, traders will also scrutinize the Fed’s updated economic projections for 2026 and beyond. Meanwhile, Tuesday’s JOLTS job openings report, the final labour market reading before the Fed’s announcement, will be closely watched. Elsewhere, China’s central bank increased its gold reserves for the 13th consecutive month, bringing holdings to roughly 74.12 million troy ounces.
WTI crude oil futures traded around $60 per barrel on Monday, close to the highest level in more than two weeks amid geopolitical risks that continue to threaten global supply. Talks between the US and Russia last week failed to produce a breakthrough toward ending the war in Ukraine, keeping sanctions on Russian energy exports firmly in place. This came amid continued Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. Markets were also on alert for the possibility of a US military intervention in Venezuela, with Rystad Energy warning that any escalation could jeopardize the country’s 1.1 million bpd of oil output. lowering its January Arab light crude price for Asia to its lowest level in five years, while Canadian oil tumbles to its weakest since March.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy said a deal to end the Ukraine war was “really close” and now depended on resolving two main outstanding issues: the future of Ukraine’s Donbas region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops in the Donbas, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Ukraine war is the deadliest European conflict since World War Two and has triggered the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the depths of the Cold War. U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, who is due to step down in January, told the Reagan National Defence Forum that efforts to resolve the conflict were in “the last 10 metres” which he said was always the hardest.
The Trump administration will be expanding its ban on travel for citizens of certain countries to more than 30, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, in the latest restriction to come since a man from Afghanistan was accused of shooting two National Guard members. The expansion would build on a travel ban already announced in June by the Republican administration, which barred travel to the U.S. for citizens from 12 countries and restricted access to the U.S. for people from seven others. In a social media post earlier this week, Noem had suggested more countries would be included. Noem, who spoke late Thursday in an interview with Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham, would not provide further details, saying President Donald Trump was considering which countries would be included.
The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear arguments in a case that will determine if President Donald Trump can undo automatic citizenship for people born in the United States. Trump, on his first day back in the White House on Jan. 20, issued an executive order that said babies born in the U.S. more than 30 days after that order were not entitled to be issued citizenship documents if their parents were temporary visitors or illegal immigrants. Before Trump’s order, there was little dispute that the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, with rare exceptions, meant that children born in the country were automatically U.S. citizens, regardless of their parents’ status. Several federal district court judges have found that Trump’s order violated the Constitution, and two federal circuit courts of appeals upheld injunctions blocking the order from taking effect.
India’s economic growth will accelerate to at least 7% this year as fundamentals remain robust despite global uncertainties, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. “Fundamentals of the economy are strong,” Sitharaman said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, adding that consumer spending was expected to stay resilient, supported by low inflation and recent cuts in goods and services tax rates. "We saw the growth numbers for the second quarter. I think that will sustain, and overall, this year’s growth numbers will be 7 or beyond it as well," she said. Gross domestic product grew 6.5% last fiscal year. India’s economy beat forecasts to grow 8.2% in the three months through September, India’s fiscal second quarter, lifted by robust consumer spending and front-loading of production ahead of local festivals and punitive U.S. tariffs.
Japan’s economy shrank more sharply in the third quarter than previously estimated, according to a revised release from the Cabinet Office of Japan on Monday. The revised annualised contraction came in at 2.3%, compared with an earlier reading of a 1.8% decline and a median forecast for a 2.0% fall. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, gross domestic product fell 0.6%, steeper than the initial 0.4% contraction and exceeding a median forecast of a 0.5% decline. Private consumption -- a key engine of the economy -- managed a modest rebound, rising 0.2% compared with a 0.1% uptick in the preliminary reading. Meanwhile, capital expenditure was revised downward sharply, showing a 0.2% drop instead of the 1.0% rise initially reported. External demand remained a drain on growth, with net exports subtracting 0.2 percentage points, while domestic demand contributed a 0.4-point drag, worse than earlier estimates.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that it’s been a “very strong” holiday shopping season so far and predicted that the U.S. economy would end the year on strong footing. “The economy has been better than we thought. We’ve had 4% GDP growth in a couple of quarters,” he said in an interview on CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation.’ “We’re going to finish the year, despite the Schumer shutdown, with 3% real GDP growth.” Gross domestic product contracted by 0.6% year-over-year for the first three months of 2025, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The second quarter of the year saw a 3.8% increase. Initial estimates from the BEA for the third quarter economic results are scheduled to publish on December 23. The latest estimate from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, on December 5, puts third-quarter annual GDP growth at 3.5%.
Netflix announced Friday it’s reached a deal to buy pieces of Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing a swift end to a dramatic bidding process that saw Paramount Skydance and Comcast also vying for the legacy assets. The transaction is comprised of cash and stock and is valued at $27.75 per WBD share, the companies said. That puts the equity value of the deal at $72 billion, with a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion. Netflix will acquire Warner Bros.′ film studio and streaming service, HBO Max. Warner Bros. Discovery will move forward with its previously planned spinout of Discovery Global, which includes its massive portfolio of pay TV networks, such as TNT and CNN.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to take government equity stakes in strategic industries doesn’t apply to major defence firms, the head of Boeing’s defence unit said on Saturday, in contrast to previous comments by a senior government official. The government wants industry to make investments in facilities, and large contractors are expected be able to do this without government assistance, Steve Parker, Chief Executive Officer of Boeing Defence, Space & Security, said on a panel at the Reagan National Defence Forum, an annual industry event in Simi Valley, California. Speaking about the prospect of the U.S. government investing in exchange for ownership rights, "it really only applies on the supply chain, particularly for the smaller companies coming through where that might be a way forward for them," Parker said.
Meta has struck several commercial AI data agreements with news publishers including USA Today, People Inc, CNN, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner and Le Monde, the company said on Friday. The tie-ups will allow the Facebook-parent to provide "real-time" news and updates through its artificial intelligence chatbot by linking to articles and websites from the publishers. The move comes as the social media giant looks to attract more users to its AI services amid increasing competition in the market, with rivals also investing heavily and signing content licensing agreements to bolster their offerings. "When you ask Meta AI news-related questions, you will now receive information and links that draw from more diverse content sources to help you discover timely and relevant content tailored to your interests," the company said.