Gold prices climbed on Friday as a weaker dollar and U.S. government shutdown uncertainty boosted safe-haven demand. Wall Street indexes faced sharp weekly declines amid concerns over AI stock rallies. Traders are now anticipating a potential Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December.
European shares concluded a volatile week lower, with technology stocks leading the decline due to persistent valuation concerns and broader risk-off sentiment stemming from the U.S. Automakers saw gains, while broadcaster ITV surged on potential sale talks. Investors also assessed corporate earnings, which showed some positive signs despite individual company setbacks.
Indian markets saw a dip mirroring global trends. The Nasdaq experienced its largest weekly fall since April due to concerns over artificial intelligence stock sustainability. U.S. Treasury yields also declined. China's trade data showed the impact of tariffs. Bitcoin saw a weekly decline but gained on the day. Major U.S. indexes recovered some losses late in the session.
Indian investors are closely watching U.S. economic signals amid concerns over a cooling labor market and tech stock volatility. Worrisome jobs data and a prolonged government shutdown are creating uncertainty, prompting a cautious approach. Attention now shifts to secondary economic reports and upcoming corporate earnings, particularly from tech giants like Nvidia, for further clues on market direction.
President Donald Trump on Friday accused foreign-owned meat packers of driving up the price of beef in the U.S. and asked the Department of Justice to open an investigation.
