Log in to today's North American session Market wrap for December 1
The new month of trading begins with quite some violent mean-reversion across asset classes.
US Stocks opened much lower compared to their strong Friday close before rebounding sharply and rejecting new highs again, in a session marked by indecision.
Cryptos continued to sell off amid the MicroStrategy (MSTR) "funding catastrophe" narrative—fueled by fears of index exclusion and a potential "death spiral" for its leverage-heavy model—along with general deleveraging across the sector. The US Dollar led currency markets to some wild swings, opening sharply lower before taking on a V-shape recovery to trade near flat by the afternoon.
Bitcoin 1H Chart, December 1, 2025 – Source: TradingView
US Politics made the headlines again, with announcements regarding operations against Venezuela awaited at the top of the hour, following high-level meetings between President Trump and his top aides.
US President Trump was also in the middle of the news. The White House confirmed his health exam was perfect amid some concerns.
Meanwhile, headlines seemed to try to sink some more pessimistic plans against his precious tariffs: Costco and other major retailers have joined lawsuits to sue the Trump administration for refunds if the tariffs are struck down by the Supreme Court.
It seems that the White House is already preparing for a potential defeat in court, with aides reportedly drafting a "Plan B" to maintain economic pressure.
Geopolitics might make their re-emergence in headlines after months of lesser appearance amid no new developments – French President Macron and Ukraine's Zelenskyy appeared in France today in a stand of force, discussing revisions to the peace plan to pressure Russia into a ceasefire.
Markets are just getting started for December trading and it will be quite an intense ride. Expect a volatile, compact month of action full of ups and downs, before and after the December 10 FOMC, as traders start to take their Year-end holidays.
Cross-Assets Daily Performance
Cross-Asset Daily Performance, December 1, 2025 – Source: TradingView
Assets at the extreme of the risk-spectrum were getting sold off quite aggressively throughout the overnight and morning session, however some mean-reversion largely helped the outflows.
Keep an eye on metals this week as Silver is catching all the attention yet again, going parabolic in today's session.
A picture of today's performance for major currencies
Currency Performance, December 1 – Source: OANDA Labs
JPY took the markets by surprise in today's trading after a hawkish turn from Bank of Japan's Ueda yesterday evening.
Other FX currencies were taking it chill before the US dollar ruined the party. A V-shape rebound in the Greenback (look at the Green line around 13:00) confirmed a potential USD range, which may have interesting implications all the way to the FOMC (check out our recent USD analysis!)
A look at Economic data releasing throughout this evening and tomorrow's sessions
For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the MarketPulse Economic Calendar.
The evening session will turn the eyes towards Fed Chair Powell's speech at 20:00 ET.
No comments regarding the December 10 meeting should be published as the Fed is still in its Blackout Period (no comments on Monetary policy allowed by its members).
AUD traders will also have to monitor the Building Permits (19:30 ET) release just before.
Tomorrow's session (December 2) brings the spotlight back to Europe with high-stakes inflation data. The early birds will assist to the Eurozone Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) at 05:00 A.M. ET.
This is the critical inflation gauge for the ECB; with the Core YoY expected to tick up to 2.5%.
The US Session should be quieter on the data front, but policy remains in focus. While there are no top-tier data releases, Fed's Bowman is scheduled to speak at 10:00 A.M. ET, offering further clues on the Fed's stance following Powell's overnight comments.
The evening will however be the most important:
Australian GDP data will heat up the evening session at 19:30 ET. Growth is expected to pick up slightly (0.7% QoQ), but any miss here would weigh heavily on the Aussie Dollar. This is followed by China's Services PMI at 20:45 ET, rounding out a heavy APAC session.
Safe Trades and a successful December!
Follow Elior on Twitter/X for additional Market News, Insights and Interactions @EliorManier
Opinions are the authors'; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. The provided publication is for informational and educational purposes only.
If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please refer to the MarketPulse Terms of Use.
Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets.
© 2025 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.
