- Asia's stocks and bonds rose alongside Wall Street as investors braced for expected Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts next year. Gold reached a new high.
- The global bond rally has moved to Asia, with sovereign debt in Australia and New Zealand surging after five- to 30-year Treasury rates fell at least 10 basis points on Wednesday, and Germany's 10-year yields plummeted to a new 2023 low. The advances moved one global bond market metric to the verge of its greatest two-month surge on record.
- A measure of Asian equities rose for the fourth day in a row, the longest run since early November, with the year-end surge set to conclude on a high note. Chinese markets were on track for their best day in four months, thanks to a shift into oversold largecap firms, while Japanese stocks fell due to yen strength. US stock futures rose, adding to the S&P 500's small gain on Wednesday.
- A worldwide stock index is on track to conclude at its highest level since February 2022, up more than 15% from its October trough, indicating traders' optimism about interest rate reduction next year. According to Fed swaps pricing, traders have increased bets on Fed rate reduction as early as March. This is a viewpoint that has gained traction since policymakers updated their predictions this month, indicating that they expect borrowing prices to fall faster than previously projected.
