Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 21, 2025 in New York.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Last week on Wall Street, two forces pulled stocks lower: a series of high-stakes numbers from Nvidia and the U.S. jobs report that landed with more heat than expected. But the leaves that remained after the hot tea had scalded investors seemed to bode well.
Even if from Nvidia The third-quarter results easily beat Wall Street estimates, but they could not allay concerns about high valuations and the inflating of an unsustainable bubble in the artificial intelligence sector. The “Magnificent Seven” cohort — save Alphabet – I had a losing week.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics added to the pressure. September payrolls rose much more than economists expected, prompting investors to reduce their bets on an interest rate cut in December. The timing didn’t help matters, as the report was delayed and released just when markets were already on edge.
As of Friday’s close, the S&P500 And Dow Jones Industrial Average lost around 2% for the week, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.7%.
However, a glimmer of hope appeared on the horizon.
On Friday, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said he sees “room” for the central bank to lower interest rates, calling current policy “modestly restrictive.” His comments led traders to increase their bets on a December cut to around 70%, up from 44.4% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
And despite a broad sell-off in AI stock last week, Alphabet shares bucked the trend. Investors seemed impressed by its new AI model, Gemini 3, and hoped its custom chip development could rival Nvidia’s in the long run.
In the meantime, Eli Lilly’s The rise in the $1 trillion valuation club was a reminder that market leadership doesn’t belong only to technology. In a market defined by narrow concentration, any sign of increasing strength is a welcome change.
Diversification, even within the sprawling AI ecosystem, could be exactly what this market needs right now.
What you need to know today
And finally…
The DDC concert hall in Beijing was one of the last to have to cancel a performance by a Japanese artist on November 20, 2025, following the escalation of bilateral tensions.
Screenshot
Japanese concerts in China abruptly canceled as tensions simmer
The escalation of the dispute between China and Japan reinforces Beijing’s growing economic influence and its penchant for abrupt actions that can create uncertainty for businesses.
Hours before Japanese jazz quintet The Blend performed in Beijing on Thursday, a man in civilian clothes entered the DDC music club during a sound check. Then, “the owner of the live house came to me and said, ‘The police told me tonight is canceled,'” said Christian Petersen-Clausen, a music agent.
—Evelyn Cheng
Correction: This report has been updated to correct the spelling of Eli Lilly.
