Finance
Stocks rise, bonds and bitcoin regain some footing
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 2, 2025
4 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 2, 2025
4 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Global stocks and bitcoin rise after a selloff, with Wall Street gaining. Investors expect a U.S. Fed rate cut, while Japanese bonds stabilize.
By Chibuike Oguh and Alun John
NEW YORK/LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Global shares rose on Tuesday and both cryptocurrencies and global government bonds stabilised after the previous day's selloff, which was triggered by a looming interest rate hike in Japan.
Investors are also gearing up for an expected interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Wall Street stocks finished higher after losing ground in the prior session. Technology and industrial shares drove the gains, while energy and materials led losses.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.39%, the S&P 500 rose 0.25% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.59%.
The broad stock indexes in Europe ended marginally higher by 0.07% while Asia-ex Japan gained 0.47%.
"A simple way to think about this is from the lens of inflation, monetary policy and fundamentals," said Talley Leger, chief market strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group.
"On the inflation side, I'm not so concerned because it's below average back to the early 1900s and I think that in turn gives the Fed scope to keep cutting rates - which is the market expectation being priced in now. You can add to that strong fundamentals in the form of record holiday shopping and strong (corporate) earnings," Leger added.
Data on Monday supported expectations for a December rate cut by the Fed, with manufacturing contracting for a ninth straight month in November, although consumers beat analyst expectations with a $23.6 billion online shopping spree to kick off the holiday season.
The MSCI World index of stocks across the globe rose 0.21%.
Markets are pricing in an 87.2% probability of a 25 basis-point interest rate cut at the Fed's meeting next week, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
"There's a little bit of momentum behind a cut but I think it's what they say in the press conference about the neutral rate that a lot of people will be focused on," said James St Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management.
JAPAN BOND SELLOFF
Jitters in the Japanese government bond market were soothed by a strong auction result, boosting the global mood. Bond yields move inversely to prices, and a weeks-long tumble in JGB prices on concerns about the nation's finances and expected rate hikes by the Bank of Japan had sent Japan's 10-year yields to a 17-year peak and 30-year yields to an all-time high.
On Tuesday, global bonds again took their cue from JGBs, but this time echoed their calm: The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.087% and the benchmark 10-year German yield was at 2.752%, both down marginally on the day.
In currency markets, the Japanese yen softened with the dollar up 0.29% at 155.87 yen.
The dollar was also steady more broadly on Tuesday, after softness on Monday helped to hoist the euro briefly above $1.165. The common currency last traded down 0.1% at $1.1622. [FRX/]
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.08% to 99.36, on track for an eighth straight session of losses.
Gold retreated 0.57% to $4,208.53 an ounce. Spot silver was last up 0.94% at $58.50, trading just below its record high of $58.83 hit on Monday
Oil prices fell slightly as traders weighed up risks from Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy sites and concerns about oversupply. Brent crude futures settled down 1.14% at $62.45 a barrel. U.S. crude futures fell 1.15% to settle at $58.64 a barrel. [O/R]
Bitcoin, which some investors see as a possible leading indicator for risk assets, inched higher on Tuesday after slumping on Monday. It gained 5.55% to $91,256.76.
(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Alex Richardson, Aidan Lewis, Deepa Babington and Edmund Klamann)
A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security. It operates on a technology called blockchain, which is a decentralized ledger that records all transactions across a network of computers.
Monetary policy refers to the actions taken by a country's central bank to control the money supply and interest rates. It aims to achieve macroeconomic objectives such as controlling inflation, consumption, growth, and liquidity.
Interest rates are the cost of borrowing money or the return on savings, expressed as a percentage of the principal. They are influenced by central bank policies and can affect economic activity and inflation.
The stock market is a collection of markets where shares of publicly traded companies are bought and sold. It serves as a platform for companies to raise capital and for investors to gain ownership in businesses.
Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services rises, eroding purchasing power. It is typically measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Producer Price Index (PPI).
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