U.S. Equities Surge Toward the Stratosphere

Market Overview

U.S. consumer confidence climbed to a six-month high, sparking aggressive dip-buying that powered a sharp rebound in U.S. equities on Friday. The S&P 500 jumped nearly 2%, marking its strongest single-day gain since May last year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke above the 50,000 milestone for the first time, while the Russell 2000 soared 3.6%.

NVIDIA surged 7% after CEO Jensen Huang emphasized extraordinarily strong AI demand, lifting the semiconductor index by 5.7%. The software ETF rebounded 3.5%. Amazon fell 5.6% following earnings, though losses narrowed compared with Thursdays after-hours selloff.

U.S. Treasury yields moved higher across the curve on Friday, with the 10-year yield rising nearly 3 basis points and the 2-year yield jumping 5.54 basis points. The U.S. dollar slipped 0.3% on the day but still posted a weekly gain of 0.56%, extending its advance to a second consecutive week.

After Thursday‘s sharp selloff, cryptocurrencies staged a powerful rebound on Friday, recouping most of the prior day’s losses. Bitcoin surged 11%, reclaiming the $70,000 level, while Ethereum also jumped 11%, moving back above $2,000.

Gold and silver posted a classic V-shaped reversal. Following a margin hike by CME, silver briefly plunged 10% before rebounding nearly 20% from the session low. Spot gold ultimately closed almost 4% higher on Friday. Oil prices edged modestly higher.

In early Asian trading on Monday, spot gold climbed back above $5,000 and extended gains rapidly, reaching $5,016.14 per ounce, up more than 1.1% intraday. Nikkei 225 futures (CME) advanced 2.2%.

Key Themes to Watch● Trump: Dow to Reach 100,000 Within Three Years？

With the Dow breaking above 50,000, Donald Trump claimed he had achieved his target three years ahead of schedule, asserting the index will reach 100,000 by the end of his term. Trump attributed the new record to his tariff policies and reiterated his bullish forecast, stating, “Remember, Trump is always right about everything! I hope the U.S. Supreme Court is watching.”

● U.S. Software Stocks: From Headwind to Tailwind？

Goldman Sachs has partnered with Anthropic to pursue full automation across accounting and compliance operations, potentially impacting 12,000 developers and thousands of operations roles. Regarding labor market implications, Goldman remains relatively cautious, noting that AI adoption is more likely to slow future hiring growth rather than trigger immediate large-scale layoffs.

Investor enthusiasm has surged. Anthropic is reportedly raising over $20 billion in a new funding round, double its initial $10 billion target, with a valuation potentially reaching $350 billion. Strong demand has driven oversubscription from NVIDIA, Microsoft, and several top-tier venture capital firms, underscoring robust market confidence in enterprise-grade AI solutions.

Events to Watch

23:00 U.S. December Wholesale Sales (MoM)

Overnight

04:15 Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks