Global Markets Rise, Tracking Record Highs for U.S. Indexes

A federal judge blocked Trump from removing Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors while a lawsuit challenging her firing proceeds. - Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg; Aaron Schwartz/Press Pool

Global stock markets tracked higher after all the main U.S. indexes closed at fresh record highs on Tuesday, buoyed by optimism about Federal Reserve rate cuts. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to quickly hear President Trump’s bid to save his global tariffs, while a federal judge blocked Trump from removing Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors while a lawsuit challenging her firing proceeds.

Producer prices data for August land later on Wednesday, with inflation on Thursday.

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Meanwhile, rising geopolitical risks continued to support gold, oil and defense stocks following Israel’s strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday and after Poland early on Wednesday said it shot down Russian drones over its territory. The drones had entered Polish airspace during an overnight strike by Moscow on Ukraine.

—U.S. futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 0.3% and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.1% following Tuesday’s record close across all the main indexes. A key inflation reading on Thursday will help to guide investors’ thinking around the Fed’s rate path through year-end.

—European indexes rose at the open. Defense stocks traded higher after the Russian drone incursion into Polish territory; France’s Thales and Dassault Aviation lead gains, up 2.4% and 1.8%, respectively. Germany’s Rheinmetall and Italy’s Leonardo both rose 0.7%, while Britain’s BAE Systems gained 0.6%. Polish authorities closed down major airports, including Warsaw, for the first time since the war in Ukraine began.

—Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk’s shares fell 1.0% after it downgraded its guidance for the second time in six weeks and said it will cut around 11% of its workforce to save $1.3 billion a year.

—French shares opened up after President Emmanuel Macron named his defense minister and close ally Sebastien Lecornu as the new Prime Minister on Tuesday, hours after Francois Bayrou resigned from the post after losing a confidence vote. France’s blue-chip CAC 40 was up 0.3% in early trade.

— Oracle shares surged 29% Wednesday premarket after the cloud-services giant secured four multibillion-dollar contracts with three different customers in the quarter ended Aug. 31.

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—Stocks in Asia closed up as Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.9% to a fresh record and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.1%.

—U.S. Treasury yields edged higher ahead of the inflation readings. “This time, the PPI will attract even more attention than usual both because it is released ahead of the August CPI and because the previous July release surprised significantly to the upside,” said Danske Bank Research’s Emilie Herbo in a note. The 10-year Treasury yield was recently up 1.3 basis points to 4.087%. There is a $39 billion auction of 10-year notes on Wednesday.

—The dollar edged down slightly, with the DXY dollar index against a basket of major currencies down 0.1% to 97.762. Bitcoin was last up 0.4% to $111,918, according to LSEG data.

—In commodities, gold was holding above $3,600 a troy ounce on growing Fed rate cut bets and as heightened geopolitical tensions fuel demand for safe-haven assets. In early trade, futures rose 0.1% to $3,684.80 a troy ounce after topping $3,700 in the prior session. Gold prices could hit $3,800/oz by the end of the year, said ANZ Research’s Soni Kumari and Daniel Hynes in a note.

—Oil prices continued their rise after Israel attacked Hamas’s leadership in Qatar and President Trump reportedly urged European Union officials to impose tariffs on buyers of Russian oil. In early European trade, Brent crude was up 0.7% to $66.88 a barrel.

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