Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 21, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Pratt | Getty Images
Two factors pushed stock prices lower on Wall Street last week. A series of high-stakes numbers from Nvidia and the US employment report, which caused a bigger reaction than expected. But the leaves left behind after an investor was scalded by hot tea seemed to herald good news.
nevertheless Nvidia’s The company’s third-quarter results easily exceeded Wall Street expectations, but they did not allay concerns about high valuations and an unsustainable bubble in the artificial intelligence sector. Friends of the Magnificent Seven — Save alphabet — It was a losing week.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also increased the pressure. Investors refrained from betting on a December interest rate cut after September payrolls came in much higher than economists expected. Timing didn’t help matters, as the report was delayed and hit when the market was already nervous.
By the end of Friday S&P500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average It fell about 2% this week, but Nasdaq Composite It fell 2.7%.
Still, there are glimmers of hope on the horizon.
On Friday, New York Fed President William Williams called current policy “moderately restrictive” and said he believed the central bank had “room” to lower interest rates. His comments led traders to raise their bets on a December rate cut to about 70% from 44.4% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
And even though AI stocks fell sharply last week, Alphabet stock bucked that trend. Investors are impressed with the company’s new AI model, Gemini 3, and are hopeful that its custom chip development could rival Nvidia’s in the long run.
meanwhile, Eli Lilly’s Its entry into the $1 trillion valuation club is a reminder that market leadership does not belong to technology alone. In a market defined by narrow concentration, any sign of growing power is a welcome change.
Even within AI’s vast ecosystem, diversification may be exactly what this market needs right now.
What you need to know today
U.S. stocks rebounded on Friday. Nevertheless, the major indexes ended the week lower. U.S. futures rose on Sunday evening. Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher on Monday, with Hong Kong markets also rising. Hang Seng Index It jumps by 2%.
Cube Holdings receives a takeover offer from Macquarie. The asset manager has submitted a non-binding offer to acquire Australian logistics company Cube Holdings for an enterprise value of A$11.6 billion ($7.49 billion).
Bessent doesn’t think the U.S. will enter a recession in 2026. “We are poised for a very strong non-inflationary growth economy,” the U.S. Treasury secretary said in an interview on “Meet the Press” on Sunday. However, he acknowledged that some sectors are struggling.
Inflation in Singapore is slowly rising. The country’s consumer price index rose 1.2% year-on-year in October, the highest level since August 2024, and beat the 0.9% forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. Core inflation also rose by 1.2%, higher than expected.
(PRO) Opportunities in China’s technology sector. Analysts say continued tensions between the United States and China despite a trade truce will prompt both countries to focus on domestically produced technology. Introducing Chinese high-tech companies that are attracting attention from Wall Street banks.
And finally…
A photo taken in Abidjan on December 8, 2014 shows a Chinese shoe merchant trading at a market in Ajamen.
Xia Kambo | AFP | Getty Images
Chinese consumer brands flood Africa as old investment models decline
Chinese business transactions in Africa, once dominated by state-owned enterprises, are now shifting from the private sector to consumer products.
According to Rhodium Group’s China Cross-Border Monitor released on November 18 this year, Chinese investment in Africa’s resource-intensive sectors has fallen by about 40% from its peak in 2015. Meanwhile, China’s exports to Africa grew 28% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2025, the report said.
— Evelyn Chen
