Mon 8 Dec: After the Bell🔒

Cautious Trading Before Fed Decision; Paramount Disrupts Dealmaking. Your 5’ evening market wrap📄📈

ℹ️ Today’s performance tables & charts on the ‘Market Data’ post.

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Good evening,

Markets are holding steady ahead of Wednesday’s Fed decision. A rate cut is widely anticipated, but investors remain cautious about the central bank’s tone and forward guidance. The headline corporate story is Paramount’s hostile bid for Warner Bros., a direct challenge to Netflix’s move last week.

Major US indices slipped about 0.3%, with nearly all 11 S&P 500 sectors in the red. Consumer discretionary led the declines, while technology was the only sector posting gains. Nvidia advanced (1.7%) on optimism over potential approval to export AI chips to China, while Tesla fell more than 3% after a Morgan Stanley downgrade citing near-term pressure in its EV business — even as analysts highlighted its long-term potential in autonomous driving and robotics.

In fixed income, yields continued to edge higher, pushing the 10-year Treasury to a four-week high of 4.17%. German Bunds were the standout mover in Europe, with yields surging to a nine-month high after hawkish remarks from the ECB’s Isabel Schnabel, who signalled comfort with markets pricing in a potential rate hike. The 30-year Bund yield rose to 3.47%, its highest level since 2011.

Oil eased about 2% in a narrow trading range, constrained by uncertainty over Russian supply commitments after Putin pledged uninterrupted fuel shipments to India despite intensifying sanctions. WTI has traded within a band of less than $4 since early November. US natural gas remained highly volatile: after last week’s cold-weather-driven rally to three-year highs, traders took profits today, sending January futures down 8% to $4.87/MMBtu.