Europe Asia News

According to analysts, markets are currently pricing in about an 89% probability of a rate cut at the Fed’s December 9–10 meeting. This is significantly higher than the rate-cut expectations seen just a few weeks ago.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.29%, while the Topix index rose 1.32%. Among the top performers on the Nikkei was Renesas Electronics, which climbed more than 6% after reports that California-based semiconductor company SiTime Corp was in talks to buy a Japanese chipmaker’s timing unit. News reports suggested the deal could be worth up to 2 billion dollars, including debt.

South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.82%, and the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.36%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was little changed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged down 0.11%, while China’s CSI 300 added 0.23%. India’s Nifty 50 index opened broadly flat, and the BSE Sensex index recorded a 0.14% decline.

Payroll processing firm ADP reported that private companies cut 32,000 jobs in November, after adding 47,000 positions in October – well below the 40,000 gain expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

The Indian rupee opened at a record low of 90.4 against the U.S. dollar, marking its all-time weakest level for a third straight day.

Shares of IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, fell by as much as 3% after the carrier cancelled numerous flights since Monday. According to Reuters, IndiGo attributed the disruptions over the past two days to unforeseen issues such as adverse weather, increased air-traffic congestion and the implementation of updated crew duty roster rules.

Flight disruptions continued into a fourth day, after a spokesperson for Bengaluru airport said on Thursday that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 408.44 points, or 0.86%, to close at 47,882.90. The S&P 500 gained 0.30% to finish at 6,849.72, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.17%, ending the session at 23,454.09.

After The Information reported that Microsoft had reduced sales quotas for its AI-related software, shares of companies exposed to the artificial-intelligence trade became the biggest drag on the major U.S. indexes on Wednesday.

Other large technology names such as Nvidia and Broadcom also weighed on the broad-based S&P 500 index. Microsoft denied the claims in the report, which helped the stock stage a modest rebound in after-hours trading.