• Asian markets dipped due to strong local inflation data, leading to speculation of a rate hike from the Bank of Japan.
• Wall Street futures rose slightly, while the dollar fell against major peers, sparking hopes for a U.S. rate cut in December.
• In Europe, French bond yields lowered, while German inflation missed forecasts, suggesting a potential rate cut from the European Central Bank.
• In the U.S., tech and healthcare sectors showed resilience, with Snowflake's stock price rising and significant investments made in CVS Health.

Asian stock markets experienced a slight dip on Friday, November 29, 2024, with the yen aiming for its best week in four months. This shift in the market was largely due to strong local inflation data, which led traders to anticipate an imminent rate hike from the Bank of Japan (BOJ).

The yen's surge was triggered by Tokyo's inflation data, which showed that core consumer prices in Japan's capital had accelerated in November and remained above the central bank's 2% target. This sign of broadening price pressure caused the dollar to fall 0.9% to 150.17 yen, marking its biggest weekly loss of 3% since late July.

This data has led traders to predict a 60% chance that the BOJ could hike interest rates again in December. This speculation has been fueled by a strengthening economy and concerns over the depreciating yen, which have recently added to the urgency for the BOJ to act.

Analysts at ING noted that the acceleration in inflation, combined with the solid recovery in monthly activity, increases the odds of another BOJ rate hike in December. However, with the U.S. market closed for Thanksgiving, there was little action in financial markets to discuss.

Meanwhile, Wall Street futures rose 0.1% in Asia, while Treasury yields eased as the cash market reopened in Japan. Ten-year yields fell 2 basis points (bps) to 4.240%, the lowest in a month, and were down 17 bps for the week, the biggest since early September.

Global Market Reactions and Predictions

The dollar is down 1.4% against its major peers this week as markets rekindled hopes for a U.S. rate cut in December. Futures narrowed the odds of a quarter-point rate cut from the Federal Reserve in December to 63%, from 55% a week ago, according to CME Group's Fed Watch Tool.

In Europe, French bond yields edged lower, a welcome bit of respite for France's government, which saw its borrowing costs rise to their highest over Germany's since 2012 on Wednesday. French Prime Minister Michel Barnier dropped plans to raise electricity taxes in his 2025 budget, bowing to far-right threats to bring the government down unless he eased the burden on the working classes.

German inflation missed forecasts in November, suggesting some downside risk for the eurozone inflation reading due later in the day. Traders are still leaning towards a 25-bps rate cut from the European Central Bank in December, after a board member Isabel Schnabel said it should only cut rates gradually. Oil prices were up slightly but looked set for weekly losses on the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal in Lebanon. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.1% to $68.76 a barrel, but were down 2.5% for the week. Gold is down 2.7% for the week at $2,638.29 per ounce.

Tech and Healthcare Sectors Show Resilience

In the U.S., stocks traded mixed after Donald Trump outlined new tariff plans on social media. The market is coming off a winning session on Monday, as investors cheered Trump's Treasury Secretary pick. The President-elect called for an extra 10% tariff on Chinese imports and a 25% duty on Mexican and Canadian products. These will remain in effect until the countries address drug and migrant flows.

In the tech sector, data company Snowflake reported financial results for its fiscal third quarter of 2025. The market responded favorably to the report as evidenced by a big jump in Snowflake's stock price. Today, the price is rising yet again, with Snowflake stock up 4% as of 10 a.m. ET. But it had been up more than this earlier in the day.

This morning, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives published a report stating that artificial intelligence (AI) is starting to revolutionize the software space and noted that Snowflake is a big beneficiary, according to The Fly. This motivated him to recommend buying Snowflake stock and to give it a price target of $190 per share, which still represents about 9% upside from today's price.

In the healthcare sector, Israel Izzy Englander, whose net worth tops $14 billion, bought an additional 4.61 million shares of CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) in Q3, boosting his fund's position in the healthcare company by a whopping 724%.