The financial markets are bracing for an important week ahead, with the spotlight on decision-making from the Federal Reserve (Fed), the Bank of England (BoE), and the Bank of Japan (BoJ). Analysts anticipate that the Fed will lower interest rates by 25 basis pointsIn contrast, neither the BoE nor the BoJ is expected to make any changes, though the prospect of a potential rate hike from the BoJ has sparked significant interest.

An examination of investor sentiment highlights a keen focus on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming press conference, where questions surrounding the impact of potential tariff plans on Fed policy are expected to dominate the discussionAccording to surveys, economists project only three interest rate cuts from the Fed within the next year, signaling a possible slowdown in the pace of rate reduction compared to previous cycles.

On the international front, UK GDP data revealed an unexpected contraction for the second consecutive month in October, causing the British pound to weaken and the euro to strengthen against it

Meanwhile, Germany reported disappointing export figures that added to concerns about overall economic health in the EurozoneFollowing the appointment of France's new Prime Minister, French stocks initially surged but fell back after a slight uptick in 10-year French bond yields spiked above the 3% mark, reflecting continued investor cautionIn Brazil, the real faced heavy selling amid fiscal troubles, prompting intervention from the Brazilian central bank.

In U.Smarkets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced its longest streak of declines in four years, falling for seven consecutive daysConversely, the semiconductor index posted gains of over 3%, with MaxLinear technology climbing nearly 11%. Notably, Nvidia's shares dropped over 2% throughout the week, culminating in a total loss of 6%. Tesla shares soared over 4% to achieve record highs, while the Chinese concept index initially slumped more than 2%, with Homates suffering a drastic 15% drop at one point

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Overall, the S&P index halted a three-week gaining streak, with the Dow falling by 1.8% and small-cap indices retreating by 2.7%, while the NASDAQ and Chinese concepts ended the week up for the fourth consecutive week.

The NASDAQ index saw a modest increase, closing up by 23.88 points to reach 19,926.72 points, while the NASDAQ 100 index rose by 164.98 points to finish at 21,780.25 pointsThe NASDAQ technology market capitalization-weighted index surged by 1.21%. However, the Russell 2000 small-cap index decreased by 0.60%, indicating the continued sensitivity of these stocks to economic cyclesThe Cboe volatility index (VIX) dipped by 1.08, closing at 13.77.

In terms of sector performance, artificial intelligence (AI) stocks exhibited mixed resultsAdobe fell nearly 2%, BigBear.ai declined over 5%, and Oracle experienced a dip of more than 1%. On the other hand, Serve Robotics rallied by over 15%, while Advanced Micro Devices saw losses close to 4% but suffered a 6% drop after-hours—this was attributed to reports suggesting the company might consider issuing additional shares and bonds

C3.ai rose by over 3%, and SoundHound AI—backed by Nvidia—gained nearly 24%. Dell Technologies saw a slight decline of 0.6%, while CrowdStrike edged up by 0.7% and Palantir increased by nearly 4%.

The performance of Chinese stocks on U.Sexchanges was predominantly negative, with the NASDAQ Golden Dragon China index falling by 1.13% to 6983.14 points, nearing a pivotal 50-day moving average currently at 6966.14 points, though it marked an increase of 2.07% for the weekFutures contracts for the FTSE A50 index recorded a slight drop of 0.05%, settling at 13,291.000 pointsAmong ETFs, the triple-leverage FTSE China ETF (YINN) fell 4.25%, despite overall gains of 0.28% over the past week, following rebounds of 5.95% and 4.43% in preceding weeksThe Chinese internet index ETF (KWEB) saw a 1.43% decline but ended the week up cumulatively by 1.99%. Individual stock performances varied, with significant declines noted—Homates dropped 15% before closing down 7.7%, and companies like XPeng Motors, Li Auto, New Oriental, Pinduoduo, Bilibili, and JD.com all finished over 2% lower

Other significant individual stocks included Walgreens Boots Alliance, which surged nearly 7% on reports that Sycamore Partners LP is organizing debt financing to acquire the company, having approached several lenders including Bank of America and JPMorgan.

Across European markets, disappointing economic data from the UK and Germany pressured equities, with pan-European indexes falling and breaking a three-week growth streakThis downturn was particularly evident in France, despite gains in Italian stocksDenmark's pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk suffered a drop of nearly 4%, dragging the Danish stock index down by close to 2.6% this weekThe Italian banking index, however, recorded a rise of over 1.5%. Following a U.Sproposal to reform the healthcare industry, European counterparts were similarly affected.

The European STOXX 600 index closed down 0.53%, finishing at 516.45 points, which summed up an overall drop of 0.77% for the week

The Eurozone STOXX 50 index managed a slight rise of 0.05% but concluded the week down by 0.20%. The FTSE Eurotop 300 index ended down 0.48%, accumulating a weekly loss of 0.75%. The German DAX 30 index also slipped, shedding 0.10% to close at 20,405.92 points, while the CAC 40 in France dropped 0.15%. The FTSE MIB in Italy climbed slightly by 0.09%, producing a weekly gain of 0.40%. The UK's FTSE 100 index lost 0.14%. Notably, Novo Nordisk announced that it would be allowed to include information about reducing kidney disease risk on its weight-loss drug Wegovy labels following positive clinical trial results.

In the bond market, U.STreasury yields climbed on Friday, contributing to a notable rally throughout the weekA critical indicator for recession— the yield curve between 3-month and 10-year U.STreasury yields— inverted state has seemingly reversed, indicating potential economic stabilization

Eurozone bonds reacted similarly, with the 10-year German Treasury yield rising by 15 basis points.

The U.S10-year benchmark yield saw a gain of roughly 7 basis points towards the close, reaching a daily high of 4.4046%, reflecting an overall weekly rise of 24.38 basis pointsThe 2-year yield climbed by over 5 basis points, completing a weekly ascent of 14.08 basis pointsIn European debt, the 10-year German yield increased by 5.4 basis points to reach a high of 2.258%, showing a weekly gain of 15 basis pointsItaly's 10-year yield rose 4.3 basis points, capping a week of 20 basis points gain.

On the foreign exchange front, the dollar index breached the 107 mark, achieving a two-week high and producing the best weekly performance in a month with a nearly 1% increaseThe yen weakened to approximately 154, down over 2% for the week, and the offshore yuan dropped over 160 points, briefly slipping past the 7.29 threshold, although it recovered to the 7.28 mark during U.S

tradingThe Canadian dollar lingered near a four-and-a-half-year lowBitcoin surged past $100,000, enjoying its longest consecutive weekly gain since 2021: increasing for seven weeks straight.

The dollar index (DXY) ended slightly lower after hitting weekly gains of 0.84%, while the euro faced fluctuations before settling above 1.05 at week's end, reflecting a weekly decline of 0.6%. The Swiss franc also faced losses, dropping by 1.57% after the Swiss National Bank’s significant rate cutThe South Korean won approached its lows from a December 2022 incident, depreciating by 0.38% to 1435.34 wonDollar-yen trading fell by 0.7%, ending up at 153.70 yenThe offshore yuan reported a post of 7.2811 against the dollarMeanwhile, Bitcoin futures rose 1.43% to $102,000, demonstrating a weekly decrease of 0.58% but still reflecting a positive trend overall.

Oil prices rose by over 1.5% on Friday, with U.S

crude oil nearing $72 per barrel, breaking a two-week losing streak and posting a weekly gain exceeding 6%. Rising geopolitical tensions due to further sanctions against Iran and Russia have intensified supply concerns, but projections indicating oversupply for the coming year put pressure on the oil marketIn contrast, European natural gas prices experienced a significant weekly slump of over 11%, marking the worst performance for the year:

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for January delivery finished up $1.27, or approximately 1.81%, at $71.29 a barrel, inching closer to the November 7 closing mark of $71.96. Despite the upward move, trader sentiments towards WTI remained notably downbeatBrent crude saw a rise of $1.08, settling at $74.49 per barrel.

Gold faced declines on Friday, dropping more than 1.6%, with gold and silver mining stocks also fallingSpot gold slipped below the $2,650 level, distancing itself from the intraday five-week high priced just a day before, though the asset culminated a weekly rise amidst expectations regarding Fed rate cuts next week