Central banks and softening CPI keep markets mixed this week.
This week @ 15:00 pm – Friday 12th December – London.
Markets:
- FTSE 100 rose by 0.28% this week to 9,694.85, driven by a rebound in energy and mining stocks late in the week.
- S&P 500 was flat (-0.03% approx.) this week to 6,880.29, showing modest volatility as investors digested central bank guidance.
- Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.23% this week to 23,544.37, as technology stocks faced slight pressure following the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.
- Euro Stoxx 50 rose by 1.09% this week to 5,781.75, supported by positive sentiment toward cyclical sectors.
Bonds:
- UK 10-year gilt yields lacked available data this week to determine movement.
- US 10-year Treasury yields moved higher this week, with the yield spread to 2-year Treasuries reflecting a widening of 2 basis points (bps) from 0.60% to 0.62%.
Commodities:
- Brent crude was flat (-0.32%) this week to $61.09, reflecting global surplus expectations that offset geopolitical tensions.
- Gold rose by 1.81% this week to $4,289.0 (Dec ’25 futures), as market uncertainty around the Federal Reserve’s future path supported safe-haven demand.
- Copper fell by 0.16% this week to $11,678.00 (LME 3-month), driven by volatility following a surge earlier in the week.
FX:
- GBP/USD rose by 0.37% this week to 1.33737, as Pound Sterling found support against the US Dollar.
- EUR/GBP rose by 0.51% this week to 0.87806, as the Euro strengthened against the Pound.
Macro & Central Banks:
- Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the third consecutive meeting on 10th December, but signalled only one additional cut is likely in 2026, which was considered hawkish against market expectations.
- US released delayed economic data, including the November jobs numbers and November CPI figures. The annual CPI rate for November is expected to pick up slightly.
- UK GDP unexpectedly contracted 0.1% in the three months to October, increasing market expectations of a BoE cut on 18 December.
Companies:
- AstraZeneca received US regulatory approval for its drug Imfinzi in the treatment of gastric cancer on 26 November 2025.
- Disney announced that OpenAI is investing $1 billion in the company, allowing OpenAI to use over 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters for user-prompted videos.
What we will be keeping an eye on next week:
w/c 15th December
- Bank of Japan (BoJ) rate announcement and guidance.
- UK jobs report (Tuesday).
- Key US Data: December PPI, Retail Sales.
Markets move constantly and the numbers in this update will change. This is a snapshot only, pulled together from a range of sources, and is meant as a quick guide rather than a precise record. It’s not investment advice and shouldn’t be used to make trading or investment decisions. If you need more accurate or specific data over a defined period, please get in touch with a member of the team who will be happy to help.
Important Information
This article is for information only and does not constitute advice or recommendation and you should not make any investment decisions based on it. The views and opinions of this article are those of Casterbridge at the time of writing and may change without notice. Any opinions should not be viewed as indicating any guarantee of return from investments managed by Casterbridge nor as advice of any nature. It is important to remember that past performance and the value of an investment, and any income from it, may go down as well as up and the investor may not get back the original amount invested.