Fed Rate Cut Bets Fuel Global Rally—Here's What's Moving

Europe’s set for another strong open on Thursday as markets price in a likely December rate cut from the Fed. The momentum’s coming from two directions: Wall Street finished Wednesday in green territory with the Dow up 0.67% (47,427) and Nasdaq climbing 0.82% (23,214), while Asian bourses are running hot on the same rate-cut tailwinds.

The old continent didn’t waste time yesterday—Stoxx 50 surged 1.5%, Germany’s DAX rallied 1.1%, and both France’s CAC and UK’s FTSE tacked on ~0.9%. Even Switzerland’s SMI got in on the action with a 0.5% bump. Futures are pointing higher again: DAX futures +0.2%, CAC futures +0.88%, Stoxx 50 futures barely moving at +0.05%.

Across the pond, US futures are sitting in mild positive territory (Dow +0.13%, S&P 500 +0.07%), while Asia’s running the table—Nikkei +1.3%, Shanghai Composite +0.71%, Hang Seng +0.66%.

The moves you need to watch:

Dollar Index slipped to 99.44 as rate-cut expectations weaken the greenback. EUR/USD ticked up 0.03% to 1.1601, GBP/USD gained 0.14% (1.3256). Gold’s taking a breather, down 0.41% to $4,185—after crushing it lately. Oil’s sliding on peace deal chatter around Ukraine: Brent crude at $62.21, WTI at $58.36.

On the agenda: Germany’s GfK Consumer Confidence for December + ECB monetary meeting minutes drop this morning. Earnings from Trigano, Pennon, and Remy Cointreau on the docket too.

Bottom line: Rate cut hopes are the tide lifting all boats. But watch the data—if sentiment starts cracking, this rally could lose steam fast.