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The World in a Week: How Major Markets Moved
United States | US stocks ended higher as earnings strength broadened beyond mega-cap tech. Analysts raised profit estimates across the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Russell 2000 for the first time in 18 months. Treasury debt crossed $30.2 trillion, with rising interest costs adding pressure to fiscal conditions.
Europe | European markets were mixed. Eurozone inflation edged up to 2.2% and core inflation stayed steady. Third-quarter GDP was revised higher, helped by stronger investment in France and Spain. Germany’s factory orders rose more than expected.
Japan | Japanese shares were flat overall. Bond yields climbed after the Bank of Japan signaled growing confidence in the recovery, increasing expectations for a December rate hike. The yen strengthened, while household spending weakened more than forecast.
China | Chinese equities gained as investors rotated into tech and AI themes. Manufacturing PMI stayed below 50 for an eighth month, and services slipped, but growth is still expected to meet the 5% target. Property weakness remained a key drag.
India | Indian markets were steady. IT stocks outperformed with their best week in two months, while PSU banks lagged. Midcaps saw stock-specific volatility following the RBI’s 25-basis-point rate cut.
Commodities | Gold traded near 4,200 dollars per ounce. Brent crude hovered around 66 dollars as supply worries eased.
Stock market closing data for the week of Dec 1 to Dec 5, 2025
Index information: STOXX 600 (tracks 600 large, mid- & small-cap EU firms), DAX (top 40 German blue chips), CAC 40 (leading French stocks), Nikkei 225 (225 top Japanese stocks), CSI 300 & SSEC (mainland China A-shares), and Hang Seng (large-cap Hong Kong-listed firms). For these indices, we track 1-week returns to capture how global sentiment is shifting.
News Summaries
Netflix Makes a Historic Move With Warner Bros.
Netflix agreeing to buy Warner Bros. Discovery is not just another deal in entertainment. It is Netflix admitting that the next stage of streaming will be built on depth, not endless scale.
Warner Bros. brings HBO, a century of film history, and one of the strongest libraries in global media. Netflix is buying time, certainty, and cultural weight.
The price is $72 billion. The cable networks will be spun into a separate company. The rest, that is HBO, Warner Bros. studios, and a library that stretches from The Sopranos to Harry Potter, will move under Netflix. It is the first time Netflix has reached for something it did not build.
This will face regulatory pressure. It will also force Netflix to change habits it held for years, from theatrical releases to producing shows for other platforms. But the real signal is simpler. Netflix believes that streaming has reached a maturity stage where owning heritage matters.
China’s New AI Signal Starts With One Extraordinary IPO
Moore Threads’ 425% jump on its first trading day is not just a big number. It shows how strongly investors believe that China’s AI chip industry will grow. The IPO was oversubscribed more than 2,700 times, which shows how much money wants exposure to this theme, even in a weak market.
The company is still loss making and its valuation is high. It also faced restrictions last year after the United States added it to the entity list. Even so, investors see it as an important local player at a time when China wants to reduce its dependence on foreign chipmakers. Moore Threads now sits beside names like Huawei and Cambricon as part of that effort.
The broader market has been quiet, but this listing stood out. When one company attracts this level of demand, it usually means investors are treating it as a marker for an entire sector. For now, Moore Threads has become that marker for China’s AI ambitions.
Sam Altman Explored Rockets for a Simple Reason
Sam Altman spent part of this year discussing a large investment in Stoke Space, a startup developing a fully reusable rocket. The talks have ended, but the idea itself is important.
Altman seems to believe that future AI systems will need far more power than Earth can comfortably supply. If that happens, companies may need data centers in orbit that rely on constant solar energy. A partnership with a rocket maker would have given him a path toward that future.
These conversations took place when excitement around AI was at its peak and OpenAI was signing huge chip and data center deals. Since then, the market has cooled. Investors are now asking how OpenAI will pay for the hundreds of billions of dollars in computing it has committed to. The company has also declared a code red to focus on improving ChatGPT after losing share to Google.
Altman’s rocket idea reflects a simple view. If the demand for compute keeps rising, access to space becomes part of the long-term plan.
GIG Pune: Our Community Meetup Is Here
GIG is coming to Pune.
After successful sessions in Mumbai and Bengaluru, we are bringing the Global Investor Group (GIG) meetup to Pune. It is an in-person gathering designed for investors who want clearer guidance on global markets, portfolio construction, and the right routes to invest abroad.
Expect real conversations, useful ideas, and a chance to learn from the Vested team and fellow investors. Seats are limited to keep the discussion meaningful.
👉 Confirm your spot for GIG Pune
Theme of the Week: China Signals Stability Over Speed
China is preparing to set a growth target of around 5 per cent for next year, even as the economy faces weak demand, deflation pressure and a long property downturn. This target is less about hitting a perfect number and more about setting the tone for the first year of the new five-year plan. Beijing wants to project stability while it works through deeper structural issues.
To reach the target, China will rely on fiscal and monetary support. Advisers expect a high budget deficit, early interest-rate easing and more bond issuance. These steps will keep liquidity strong while other reforms take time.
The real shift China wants is toward higher household consumption. Today, consumption is only about 40 per cent of GDP, which is far below major economies. Raising this share will require years of policy changes, from welfare support to mobility reforms.
The 5 per cent target is a message. China wants steady growth while it slowly moves the economy toward a more balanced model.
Key Headlines of the Week
Earnings Optimism Broadens in the US | For the first time in 18 months, analysts are raising earnings estimates across the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Russell 2000. About 83% of S&P 500 companies have beaten expectations, and profit growth is now spreading beyond mega-cap tech. Analysts expect 14% earnings growth for the S&P 500 in 2026, showing healthier breadth across the market.
US Treasury Debt Tops 30 Trillion Dollars | US government debt in Treasuries has crossed 30.2 trillion dollars as higher borrowing costs and pandemic-era spending continue to drive interest expenses. The annual interest bill has reached 1.2 trillion dollars, raising concerns about long-term fiscal pressure even as tariff revenues rise.
Meta Cuts Metaverse Budget by Up to 30% | Meta plans to reduce spending on its metaverse group by as much as 30% next year, with cuts likely to hit VR and Horizon Worlds. The company is shifting resources toward AI glasses and wearables after Reality Labs posted more than 70 billion dollars in losses since 2021.
