Market Sentiment: "The Santa Clause Rally?"

US Market Summary‌

‌$S&P 500(.SPX)$  ‌‌$NASDAQ(.IXIC)$  ‌‌$Dow Jones(.DJI)$  ‌‌$iShares Russell 2000 ETF(IWM)$  ‌

The US markets closed lower on Wednesday and continue to face pressure in early Thursday trading. The primary driver is a sell-off in the technology sector, particularly in AI-related stocks.

Key US Highlights:

Tech & AI Retreat: Investors are showing signs of "AI funding fears," with Broadcom and Palantir seeing significant reversals. The Nasdaq 100 is currently on track for a second consecutive bearish week.

Economic Indicators: All eyes are on today's Consumer Price Index (CPI) report and weekly jobless claims. These figures will be critical for the Federal Reserve's interest rate trajectory for early 2026.

Oil Prices: WTI Crude has seen volatility, recently trading near $56-$60 per barrel, which has weighed on energy sector stocks.

World Market Summary

International markets are largely mirroring the "subdued tone" from Wall Street, with most major Asian and European indices trading in the red.

Asia-Pacific

Japan (‌$Nikkei 225 Index(N225)$  ‌  225): Dropped roughly 0.8% - 1.0% as the Yen remains a point of concern and investors brace for the Bank of Japan's upcoming policy decisions.

India (Sensex/Nifty): Edged lower (approx. -0.2%) following global trends, though domestic institutional buying provided some support.

Hong Kong & South Korea: The Hang Seng and Kospi both saw declines (Kospi down over 1%), hit particularly hard by the global tech sell-off.

Europe

Germany (‌$Global X Dax Germany ETF(DAX)$  ‌) & France (‌$Camden National(CAC)$  ‌ 40): Both indices fell (approx. -0.3% to -0.5%) as investors await interest rate decisions from the European Central Bank.

UK (FTSE 100): A rare outlier, showing slight gains or remaining flat (up 0.92% in some sessions) due to its heavy weighting in defensive and commodity-linked sectors.

There is growing skepticism about the traditional end-of-year "Santa Claus rally" for 2025. 

While the S&P 500 is still up roughly 14.5% year-to-date, the aggressive distribution (selling on high volume) seen this week suggests that many traders are choosing to lock in profits rather than bet on a late-December surge.