MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks rose after New York Fed President John Williams made a case for rate cuts. Rising uncertainty about interest rates and fears of a potential AI bubble fueled demand for Treasurys, sending yields lower for the week. Dollar indexes were sluggish, weakening against the yen but strengthening against the euro and Swiss franc. Oil futures ended the session and the week lower. Gold finished higher, but was down for the week.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

Stocks finished higher Friday, with the Dow industrials clawing back the previous session's losses, after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams made the case for a near-term cut to interest rates.

For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%, the S&P 500 gained 1% and the Nasdaq climbed 0.9%.

The gains cap a volatile week in which investors debated lofty technology valuations and aggressive artificial-intelligence spending plans. But the rally wasn't enough to overtake the sharp declines earlier in the week. The Nasdaq dropped 2.7% for the week, while the DJIA and S&P 500 lost over 1.9%.

Recent investor anxieties have dinged high-flying tech stocks and other assets seen as risky, such as bitcoin, which remained under pressure. The Cboe Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, ebbed, but remained at an elevated level of 23.4.

Earlier Friday, markets in Asia traded lower.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.5%. The Shenzhen Composite and the ChiNext fell 3.4% and 4.0%, respectively.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 2.4%.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 2.4%. The country's cabinet under new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Friday approved $135 billion of stimulus, expectations for which have seen Japanese government bond yields rise on concerns over the country's fiscal position. Meanwhile, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama expressed concern about the rapidly weakening yen.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index dropped 1.6%.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index slipped 0.1%.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures ended the session and the week lower as the U.S. pressed Ukraine to accept a plan to end the war with Russia.

"Prior upside lead from the diesel market has shifted to the downside" on the peace plan, Ritterbusch said in a note.

Talks could drag on as the plan appears heavily skewed in favor of Russia, but Ukraine is likely to hold off further attacks on Russian oil infrastructure while they proceed, "removing a significant amount of geopolitical risk premium from the market," the firm added.

WTI settled down 1.6% at $58.06 a barrel as January moved to the front of the curve. Brent fell 1.3% to $62.56. The benchmarks ended the week down 3.4% and 3.2%, respectively.

Gold followed equities higher, although not enough to reverse the losses for the week.

Front-month gold finished up 0.5% to $4,076.70 a troy ounce, while for the week it was down 0.3%.

Silver settled down 0.7% to $49.873 a troy ounce, finishing down 1.4% for the week.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Fed's Williams Sees Room for 'Near-Term' Rate Cut

A top Federal Reserve official said another interest-rate reduction "in the near term" could be warranted to bring rates closer to a neutral setting that neither spurs nor slows growth, leading investors to boost expectations of a December rate cut.

Comments delivered Friday morning by John Williams, the president of the New York Fed, are notable because he is a top ally of Fed Chair Jerome Powell and because the December decision appears to be a tossup that may well be decided by Powell.

A growing chorus of Fed officials, including a few who backed cuts in September and October, have indicated over the last two weeks that they don't think another reduction is warranted next month.

BLS Won't Publish October Inflation Report

The federal government won't release a standalone inflation report for October. It will instead publish limited October price numbers together with November data with a delayed release on Dec. 18, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.

The announcement rounds out the BLS's plans for catching up on major statistical reports that were delayed by the record-setting government shutdown. It also means that the Federal Reserve will have jobs and inflation data no more recent than September's on hand when officials meet to make their final planned interest-rate decision of 2025 on Dec. 9-10.

Earlier this week, the agency said that it won't publish an October jobs report either, instead planning to release last month's payroll numbers and November data together next month.

Consumer Sentiment Fell in November, Michigan Survey Shows

Consumer sentiment slid in November compared with last month, the University of Michigan's monthly survey found.

The survey's headline index dropped to 51, hovering near one of the lowest levels in the monthly poll's history. That final reading was up a hair from the preliminary November figure, 50.3, published two weeks ago, but down from 53.6 recorded in October. It was in line with the number that economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast.

Consumers, who have faced above-trend inflation for nearly half a decade, remain frustrated with high and rising prices, survey director Joanne Hsu said. Through the first part of November, they also were contending with a record-long government shutdown, which disrupted food aid, air travel and many federal workers' paychecks.

Week Ahead for FX, Bonds: U.K. Autumn Budget, U.S. Data In Focus

The U.K. autumn budget on Wednesday will take center stage in the week ahead. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves is expected to announce tax rises to fix the public finances, but specific measures are unclear in the wake of a reported U-turn on income-tax hikes.

In the U.S., uncertainty around the Federal Reserve's next interest-rate decision in December means markets will be scrutinizing data. It will be a shortened week with Thanksgiving on Thursday, meaning the bond and stock markets are closed that day and close early the following day.

In Asia-Pacific, central-bank decisions in New Zealand and South Korea will be front and center as the region continues to navigate tariff-related uncertainties and market volatility on AI-linked jitters. Markets will also closely watch for India's GDP release for signs of whether domestic momentum remains solid enough to anchor growth expectations, while Tokyo's inflation print will help investors gauge the Bank of Japan's next steps.

Tyson to Close One of the Biggest Beef-Processing Plants in the U.S.

Tyson Foods, America's largest meat supplier, is planning to close one of its largest beef-processing plants in Nebraska at a time when a cattle shortage in the U.S. squeezes meatpacking companies.

The Lexington, Neb., plant employs roughly 3,000 people and can slaughter almost 5,000 cattle a day, according to industry estimates.

Tyson is the first of the big four meatpacking companies that process 85% of beef in the U.S. to close a major plant during the current cattle supply crunch. Meatpackers including Tyson have been losing hundreds of millions of dollars processing beef because of the lowest amount of cattle on U.S. pastures since the 1950s.

Eli Lilly Reaches $1 Trillion Market Cap on Booming Weight-Loss Drugs

The booming market for weight-loss drugs has propelled Eli Lilly to become the first pharmaceutical company to hit $1 trillion in market capitalization, joining a select club of mostly tech companies that have surpassed that threshold.

Lilly shares rose as high as $1,061.17 on Friday, giving it a market cap slightly more than the 13-figure milestone.

Lilly's market value is more than twice as big as its next closest rival in the industry, Johnson & Johnson, which is worth about $490 billion.

Paramount, Comcast and Netflix Submit Bids for Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount, Comcast and Netflix have submitted bids for Warner Bros. Discovery, owner of the storied Warner Bros. movie and television studio and HBO, according to people familiar with the matter.

The bids submitted are nonbinding, and additional rounds are expected, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. Warner Discovery has indicated it would like to have the process concluded by the end of the year.

At the same time, Warner Discovery continues to move forward with plans to separate its assets into two companies: one to house its studios and streaming business, and the other comprising its cable networks.

Expected Major Events for Monday

05:00/SIN: Oct CPI

08:00/TAI: Oct Employment / Unemployment

08:20/TAI: Oct Money Supply

21:00/SKA: Nov Consumer Sentiment Index

23:30/JPN: Sep Final Labour Survey - Earnings, Employment & Hours Worked

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 23, 2025 16:30 ET (21:30 GMT)

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