Business
Asian stock market: Asian stock rally pauses, silver stays volatile
MSCI Inc.’s gauge of Asia Pacific shares was down 0.1% in early trading. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index also edged lower after the US benchmark fell 0.3% Monday and the Nasdaq 100 slid 0.5%. Tesla Inc., Nvidia Corp. and Meta Platforms were among the Big Tech decliners in the session.
The weakness in equities “is a reversal from last week when tech stocks led on the way up,” said Joe Mazzola, head trading & derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab. However, it “doesn’t appear connected to any single fundamental factor,” he said.
A gauge of global equities ended a seven-day winning streak on Monday while still staying on course to cap its best year since 2019. Silver continued to be volatile after tumbling 9% in the previous session, a selloff that followed a historic surge powered by speculative trades and fears of a supply shortage.
For several Asian equity markets, including Japan, South Korea and Thailand, Tuesday marks the last trading session of the year.
Read more: Asia’s Equity Market Closures: Holiday Advisory
The MSCI All Country World Index has climbed 21% in 2025 and a measure of Asian stocks has rallied almost 26%. Even as the S&P 500 — up some 17% — has underperformed many global peers, an optimistic consensus is taking hold that US stocks will continue rallying in 2026 after three straight years of gains.Despite a raft of risks spanning a potential bust in the artificial-intelligence advance to unanticipated policy shocks, sell-side strategists are forecasting another 9% average gain in the S&P 500 next year.
Meantime, President Donald Trump teased that he has a preferred candidate to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, but is in no hurry to make an announcement — while also musing that he might fire the central bank’s current leader, Jerome Powell.
Investors were also assessing the outlook for US interest rates and monetary policy. Wall Street interest-rate strategists — with several notable exceptions — expect stable-to-higher Treasury yields in 2026 despite Fed interest-rate cuts.
The Fed is due to release minutes of its December meeting later on Tuesday.
Read more: Wall Street Skews Bearish on Treasury Market in 2026: Roundup
Elsewhere in markets, Bitcoin was little changed. The cryptocurrency topped $90,000 in the last session before erasing its gain. A gauge of the dollar was steady.
Oil held the bulk of a gain as traders weighed geopolitical tensions from Venezuela to Russia and Iran against concerns about a glut. West Texas Intermediate traded near $58 a barrel after rising 2.4% on Monday, while Brent settled below $62.
