MARKET SNAPSHOT

Stocks slipped as investors remained cautious of an AI bubble. Treasury yields rose and the dollar fell amid speculation that President Trump would appoint the National Economic Council's leader Kevin Hassett to replace Fed Chair Powell. Silver reached a new high with its fifth consecutive gain, while gold settled up for its third highest close in history. Oil prices rose.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

The Dow industrials led U.S. stocks lower, falling 0.9%. The S&P 500 retreated 0.5%, while the Nasdaq composite edged lower 0.4%.

Bitcoin fell 6.4%, its largest daily decrease since March 3, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The decline hurt shares of crypto-focused companies including Coinbase, Robinhood and Strategy, each of which was down at least 3%.

The cautious mood extended a stretch of volatility for global markets, which have been choppy since fears of an AI bubble set in this fall. After rising on Black Friday, the S&P 500 still eked out a small gain in November, marking its seventh-consecutive winning month.

This week, investors will scour data including the ADP employment report for clues about the Federal Reserve's next move at a meeting that concludes Dec. 10. Traders are confident the central bank will lower borrowing costs for the third time in a row, to bolster the labor market, according to CME Group data.

In Asia, indexes were mixed.

China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7%, while the Shenzhen Composite Index and ChiNext Price Index closed 1.0% and 1.3% higher, respectively.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng climbed 0.7%.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.9% as growing expectations for a rate increase by the Bank of Japan also earlier lifted the domestic yield curve across the board. Chip and real-estate stocks led the declines.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index lost 0.6%.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 0.3%.

COMMODITIES

Oil prices rose 1.3%, after the OPEC+ cartel decided to hold production steady instead of pumping more crude.

Silver stepped up to a new high with the front-month contract rising 3.5% to $58.148 a troy ounce.

It's the fifth consecutive session that silver rose and it has more than doubled so far this year. Silver is seen having more upside than gold in upcoming trading sessions, partially in reaction to heightened expectations around the Federal Reserve cutting the interest rate this month.

Front-month gold settled up 0.5% to $4,239.30 a troy ounce

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Bitcoin Tumbles to $85,000. Why Crypto Traders Are Feeling 'Extreme Fear.'

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tumbled in Monday trading, slipping below key levels over the weekend as sentiment for digital assets eroded.

The price of Bitcoin fell 6.8% over the past 24 hours through 2 p.m. Eastern time Monday to $85,236. The largest digital asset had reclaimed the key $90,000 support level last week but fell through it again on Sunday.

U.S. Manufacturing Contracts for Ninth Straight Month

U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for the ninth consecutive month in November, a decline manufacturers attribute largely to President Trump's tariffs.

The Institute for Supply Management's PMI for manufacturing came in at 48.2, a decrease from 48.7 in October. The level was below the 50 score that divides contraction from expansion.

"It really is all about tariffs," said ISM Chair Susan Spence. "We do not see anything on the horizon that's going to turn this ship."

U.S., U.K. Strike Deal on Higher Drug Prices

LONDON-Britain will spend more on new medicines in exchange for avoiding tariffs on U.K. pharmaceutical exports to the U.S., the first major success in President Trump's drive to get other countries to pay more for medicines that he says are unfairly subsidized by American consumers.

The U.K. government will raise the net price it pays for new patented medicines by 25% and revamp a tax program to ease the burden on drug companies, according to a statement Monday by the U.S. Trade Representative.

"For too long, American patients have been forced to subsidize prescription drugs and biologics in other developed countries by paying a significant premium for the same products in ours," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said. He added that he hoped more countries would follow the U.K.'s "constructive negotiations."

Airbus Hit by Fuselage Quality Issue Affecting Hundreds of A320 Jets

Airbus has identified a quality issue with metal panels on hundreds of its bestselling A320 family of aircraft, a fresh setback days after the company warned that thousands of the jets required an urgent software fix.

The European plane maker said Monday that it was inspecting jets that may be affected by what it described as a "supplier-quality issue"-a discovery that threatens to upend an already high-pressure scramble to meet full-year delivery targets.

Airbus hasn't publicly disclosed the number of planes that may be affected, but told customers late last week as many as 628 jets could have defective panels installed, according to a confidential presentation reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Shopify Breaks Down on Busy Cyber Monday

Shopify experienced an outage on Cyber Monday that interrupted transactions for some merchants on its e-commerce platform during one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The web hosting company said on X it was aware of an issue impacting selected stores and was working to resolve it.

A spokeswoman referred questions to the company's status page, which said that merchants might experience difficulties logging into the point-of-sale system and other problems that the company was investigating.

Buy Now, Pay Later Companies Asked to Share Lending Practices

Attorneys general from seven states are launching an inquiry into buy now, pay later lenders including Affirm, Klarna and PayPal.

The attorneys general sent a letter Monday to the six largest buy now, pay later providers seeking information about their pricing and repayment structures, as well as consumer contracts, agreements and disclosures. Block's company Afterpay, Sezzle and Zip also received the letter.

The inquiry aims to determine whether the companies are complying with consumer protection laws and if their products may be placing consumers at financial risk. Attorneys general have previously raised concerns that buy now, pay later companies may not provide the same consumer protections as other credit products.

Algoma Steel to Cut 1,000 Workers Due to Tariffs

OTTAWA-Algoma Steel said it would eliminate about 1,000 jobs, or about a third of its workforce, as the company shuts down production from its blast furnace and coke ovens that became financially unsustainable with hefty U.S. tariffs.

The steel maker, based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, said the job losses would take effect in 16 weeks, or late March. This would represent one of the biggest employment hits to date for Canada from the shift in U.S. trade policy under President Trump.

Canada is the largest foreign provider of steel to the U.S. market, and Canadian products entering the U.S. face a 50% tariff. Algoma said the tariffs have altered the competitive landscape and sharply limited the company's ability to access the U.S. market.

Expected Major Events for Tuesday

00:30/AUS: Oct Building Approvals

00:30/AUS: 3Q International Investment Position

00:30/AUS: 3Q Balance of Payments

05:00/JPN: Nov Consumer Confidence Survey

08:30/HK: 3Q Quarterly Statistics on Vessels, Port Cargo & Containers

13:00/SIN: Nov Singapore Purchasing Managers' Index $(PMI)$

21:00/SKA: Nov International Reserves

22:00/AUS: Nov Australia Services PMI

22:00/AUS: Nov Australian PMI

22:00/AUS: Nov Australian PCI

23:00/SKA: 3Q Revised GDP / Preliminary Gross National Income

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 01, 2025 17:15 ET (22:15 GMT)

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