Daily summary: Dollar rebounds on hawkish cut expectations, equities turn red (08.12.2025)

Despite a stable open, U.S. indices turned red ahead of tomorrow’s start of the final FOMC meeting of the year. The DJIA (US30: -0.6%) is taking the largest hit, as many defensive stocks remain pressured by relatively solid tech performance. The Nasdaq (US100) and S&P 500 (US500) are down about 0.4%.

The U.S. Commerce Department will soon allow Nvidia’s H200 chip to be exported to China, Semafor reported, citing a person familiar with the matter (source: Reuters). Nvidia shares are up about 2.5%.

According to a new New York Fed survey, Americans expect medical costs to surge by around 10.1%, the largest increase in a decade. Rising costs for key services (partly due to the expiration of federal subsidies) are straining households despite falling inflation, which may weigh on domestic demand over the longer term.

Paramount Skydance has submitted a counteroffer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for USD 108.4 billion, surpassing Netflix’s earlier USD 72 billion bid. Shares of WBD and Paramount rose (3.5% and 8%, respectively), while Netflix fell about 4%. The need to provide a fully financed and simplified offer was reinforced by antitrust concerns about a potential Netflix–WBD merger, highlighted even by the U.S. president.

European index futures ended the session in the red. The UK100 lost the most (-0.3%), followed by Spain’s SPA35 (-0.2%). Germany’s DAX (DE40) and France’s CAC40 (FRA40) trade about 0.05% lower.

The U.S. dollar index is rebounding 0.1% despite earlier declines, supported by expectations of a more hawkish Fed narrative after delivering the final rate cut of 2025. The euro is broadly stronger, supported by a better-than-expected Sentix sentiment reading (-6.2 vs. -7). The weakest currencies are safe havens—the yen (USDJPY: +0.3%) and the franc (EURCHF: +0.3%). EURUSD is flat at 1.164.

Brent and WTI crude are down more than 2%, ending a 3-day winning streak amid greater certainty about planned OPEC+ supply increases and low concern over sanctions on Russia.

Gold is down about 0.3% to USD 4,192 per ounce, while silver falls 0.6% to USD 58 per ounce.

Cryptocurrencies start the week on a positive note. Bitcoin adds a modest 0.75%, rising back above USD 90,000, while Ethereum gains 2.8% to USD 3,123.