US stock index futures showed mixed performance while international equity markets began November with advances Monday, according to Wall Street Journal. Crude oil prices climbed following an OPEC+ agreement to increase production next month while freezing further output hikes through the first quarter of next year, Wall Street Journal reported. Gold prices also moved higher.
Futures contracts for the S&P 500 advanced 0.1% while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures remained unchanged after both benchmarks finished the previous month with gains, Wall Street Journal stated. The ongoing government shutdown, now in its 34th day, will keep investor attention focused on corporate earnings, with approximately one-quarter of S&P 500 constituent companies scheduled to release quarterly results during the coming week.
Asian equity markets closed Monday's session with gains, Wall Street Journal reported. South Korea's Kospi index surged 2.8%, propelled by semiconductor manufacturers and major technology-related companies. Mainland Chinese stock markets finished higher, receiving support from petroleum and banking sector shares. Shanghai's composite index led the regional advances with a 0.6% gain, while the Shenzhen and ChiNext indexes climbed 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, according to Wall Street Journal. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1%. Japan's Nikkei remained closed due to a public holiday.
European equity indexes opened the new month with advances, Wall Street Journal stated. London's FTSE 100 index gained 0.2%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.7%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.1%, and the pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.3%. Energy sector shares boosted the markets following OPEC+'s decision to halt production increases for the opening three months of 2026, according to Wall Street Journal. BP shares advanced over 1% after the oil major completed the sale of interests in certain US midstream assets for $1.5 billion. Ryanair shares disappointed investors, declining 1.5% after the airline failed to provide concrete guidance for fiscal year 2026, though the company indicated expectations to recover previous year declines and report reasonable net profit growth.
The dollar retreated slightly from recent gains due to uncertainty regarding whether the Federal Reserve will implement another interest rate reduction in December, Wall Street Journal reported. The Fed reduced rates by 25 basis points as anticipated last week, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated a December reduction was not a foregone conclusion. Comments from Fed members since the meeting revealed differing viewpoints. Market pricing indicates a 68% probability of another cut in December, according to LSEG data. The DXY dollar index fell 0.1% to 99.745 but remained near the three-month peak of 99.844 reached Friday.
Eurozone government bond yields registered marginally higher levels in early trading, searching for new catalysts, Wall Street Journal stated. "In the coming days, data, central bank comments and [bond] supply are likely to amplify the background noise rather than provide new direction," Commerzbank Research's Rainer Guntermann said in a note, according to Wall Street Journal. The 10-year German Bund yield climbed 1.1 basis points to 2.647%, while the 10-year Italian BTP yield edged up 0.5 basis points to 3.391%, based on Tradeweb data.\
US Treasury yields exhibited mixed trading patterns as European markets opened, Wall Street Journal reported. While the US government shutdown continues, potential catalysts for Treasury markets this week include Wednesday's quarterly refunding announcement. Markets also continue processing Powell's message from last week that a December rate cut was not guaranteed. The two-year Treasury yield declined 1.8 basis points to 3.587%, the 10-year Treasury yield rose 0.4 basis points to 4.103%, and the 30-year yield increased 1.2 basis points to 4.680%, according to Tradeweb data.
Bitcoin declined as doubts over whether the Fed will reduce interest rates in December curtailed demand for riskier assets, Wall Street Journal stated. Bitcoin fell 2.3% to $107,490, LSEG data showed.
Oil prices advanced after OPEC+ agreed to pause output increases for the first quarter of next year, easing concerns about a growing supply surplus, according to Wall Street Journal. Brent crude rose 0.3% to $65 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate climbed 0.4% to $61.21 per barrel. Key members of the producer group decided to raise production by 137,000 barrels daily for December before pausing increases from January through March.
Gold rose in early trading, with New York futures advancing 0.7% to $4,026.50 per troy ounce, Wall Street Journal reported. Investors continued digesting last week's US-China trade agreement, which provided short-term market relief but addressed few fundamental divergences between the two nations. Spot gold declined 0.5% to $4,002.81 per ounce after China reportedly eliminated a longstanding gold-tax incentive, according to reports cited by Wall Street Journal.
