Markets Today: Japanese Yen Hits 9-Month Lows, European Shares Higher, FTSE Eyes Pullback. US Government Shutdown in Focus

Most Read: Large rotation from tech as ADP employment scares again – Market wrap for the North American session - November 11

Asian stock markets and government bonds both moved higher after new employment data suggested the US job market is cooling down. This soft data increased expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates soon, causing the 10-year Treasury yield to drop and traders to now price in a roughly 70% chance of a rate cut next month.

The prolonged government shutdown forced investors to rely heavily on private reports, like the one from ADP, because official job and inflation data were unavailable. News that the shutdown could end as early as Wednesday boosted investor optimism, but traders are now preparing for a flood of delayed official economic data once federal agencies reopen.

According to the private ADP report, while US companies cut an average of 11,250 jobs per week in the last four weeks of October, the full monthly report still showed that private-sector payrolls grew by 42,000 in October, following two months of job losses.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4%, with technology stocks recovering from early losses. In Japan, the Nikkei index rose 0.43%, and the broader Topix index closed at a record high, boosted by Sony Group jumping 3.67% after raising its annual profit forecast by 8%.

However, SoftBank Group ended 3.46% lower after revealing it sold a $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia, which also contributed to a decline in other chip-related shares. Conversely, bank stocks performed well, with financial groups like Mitsubishi and Sumitomo Mitsui seeing strong gains.

European stock markets rose on Wednesday, continuing their gains from the previous two days and reaching new record highs, with both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 indexes up.

Investor optimism was boosted by the high likelihood of the US government reopening soon and increasing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again.

Several companies provided good news: Infineon Technologies jumped 2.2% after predicting its revenue would start growing again next year; RWE added 3.5% after reporting better-than-expected profits; and Bayer rose 1.7% after its profit beat forecasts.

Luxury giant LVMH and bank Intesa Sanpaolo also saw their stocks hit recent or all-time high prices. The only notable drop was E.ON, which lost 1.5% despite confirming its profit forecast for the year.

On the FX front, the Japanese yen fell to a nine-month low against the U.S. Dollar on Wednesday, hitting 154.82 per dollar, which prompted Japanese officials, including Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, to try and stop the drop with verbal warnings.

The yen has fallen sharply since early October, largely because the market expects the new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, to increase government spending.

The US Dollar recovered slightly from its previous losses, rising 0.1% against other currencies.

Meanwhile, the British pound and the euro both dropped slightly, while the Australian dollar rose 0.2% and the New Zealand dollar was mostly flat.

Currency Power Balance

The price of oil fell by nearly 1% on Wednesday due to too much oil being available in the market, though the anticipated end of the longest-ever US government shutdown helped curb losses by promising a future boost in oil demand. Both Brent crude and US West Texas Intermediate dropped about 1%.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a new major forecast predicting that global oil and gas demand could continue to grow until 2050. This is a significant shift from the IEA's previous prediction that demand would peak this decade, as the agency has changed its forecasting method to look only at current government policies instead of climate promises. Investors are now also waiting for similar outlook reports from OPEC and the US Energy Information Administration, which are due out today.

Gold prices were steady on Wednesday as investors waited for the US House of Representatives to vote on a deal to reopen the government. If the deal passes, it would provide two things the market needs: clear official economic reports (which have been delayed) and a better idea of how the Federal Reserve will decide on future interest rate cuts.

Spot gold remained stable, while US gold futures for December delivery saw a small rise of 0.5%.

Read More:

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The European session will be quiet with an OPEC monthly report the highlight. There are also a host of Central Bank speakers from the ECB, BoE and the Federal Reserve.

The main focus for markets is the US House of Representatives, which is expected to pass the compromise bill to reopen the government until January 30th. If approved, the government could reopen as early as Friday, allowing the release of the important September NFP jobs report (which might be negative for the US Dollar) early next week.

Before then, New York Fed President John Williams will give a speech today. While he is generally seen as favoring lower interest rates, his speech is unlikely to change the current market expectation, which prices a 66% probability of a 0.25% Fed interest rate cut in December.

From a technical standpoint, the FTSE 100 has broken out of the wedge pattern which has been in play of late.

The breakout sets the index up for a potential 220-odd point rally to the upside.

A retest of the wedge cannot be ruled out and may present a better risk-to-reward opportunity. The recent four-hour candle close which is a shooting star candle does hint at further downside.

Immediate support rests at 9863 and 9840 before the 9800 handle comes onto focus.

FTSE 100 Index Daily Chart, November 12. 2025

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