Weekly Market Recap | Nov 17 – Nov 23

Analyst Highlights

• Equities weakened overall: S&P 500 −1.04% and Nasdaq −1.91% for the week, even as small caps outperformed with Russell 2000 +1.20%.
• Volatility and options positioning signaled a nervous market, with tech hedging costs rising and VIX up 4.69% on the week.
• Rates narrative is the key macro driver: Treasuries rallied on Williams’ dovish signal, lifting December cut odds above 60%, while internal Fed division grows.
• Crypto positioning flipped risk-off: nearly $1B exited spot-BTC ETFs in a day, BTC fell toward $80.5K lows, and about $500B of value was wiped out this month.
• Energy stayed pressured: WTI −0.48% and Brent −3.01% as traders weighed a Ukraine-Russia peace path that could loosen sanctions and add supply.
• Tech leadership broadened into infrastructure and M&A: Anthropic drew up to $15B from Microsoft/Nvidia, Foxconn committed $1–5B to US AI servers, and Palo Alto bought Chronosphere for $3.35B.

IPO’s in the week

• Hall Chadwick Acquisition Corp (HCACU, Nasdaq Global), a Cayman Islands blank-check SPAC targeting high-growth tech, critical materials, and energy businesses, priced its IPO on Nov 21, 2025, offering 18,000,000 shares at $10.00 each to raise $180.0M for a future business combination.
• Central Bancompany, Inc. (CBC, Nasdaq Global Select), a Jefferson City–based bank holding company with $19.2B in assets and 156 branches across MO, KS, OK, and CO, priced its IPO on Nov 20, 2025, offering 17,778,000 shares at $21.00 each to raise approximately $373.3M to support continued growth in community and wealth banking services.
• Gloo Holdings, Inc. (GLOO, Nasdaq Global Select), a Boulder-based vertical tech platform serving the faith and flourishing ecosystem with subscriptions, advertising, and faith-focused marketplaces, priced its IPO on Nov 19, 2025, offering 9,100,000 shares at $8.00 each to raise approximately $72.8M to scale its platform and AI-driven solutions for churches and faith-based organizations.

Markets Weekly

1. S&P 500 closed at 6,602.99, down 69.42 points and 1.04% for the week.
2. Russell 1000 (IWB) closed at 360.83, down 3.33 points and 0.91% for the week.
3. Russell 2000 closed at 2,369.59, up 28.21 points and 1.20% for the week.
4. Russell 3000 closed at 3,742.46, down 33.20 points and 0.88% for the week.
5. CBOE(VIX) closed at 23.43, up 1.05 points and 4.69% for the week.
6. Dow Jones closed at 46,245.41, down 344.83 points and 0.74% for the week.
7. Nasdaq Composite closed at 22,273.08, down 434.99 points and 1.91% for the week.
8. BTC USD closed at 84,648.36, down 7,445.52 points and 8.08% for the week.
9. ETH USD closed at 2,767.61, down 256.93 points and 8.49% for the week.
10. SOL USD closed at 127.55, down 3.30 points and 2.52% for the week.
11. XRP USD closed at 1.9498, down 0.2668 points and 12.04% for the week.
12. Gold closed at 4,056.90, down 11.40 points and 0.28% for the week.
13. Silver closed at 49.71, down 0.92 points and 1.82% for the week.
14. WTI closed at 57.78, down 0.28 points and 0.48% for the week.
15. Brent crude closed at 62.27, down 1.93 points and 3.01% for the week.

• Bond rally paused after gains in 8 of the last 10 months, with yields range bound as markets wait for jobs and inflation data to confirm more Fed cuts.
• Options markets are flashing rising anxiety, with the S&P 500 seeing its widest weekly range since June and tech hedging costs jumping versus broader market protection.
• US Treasuries rallied after Fed’s John Williams signaled room for a near term cut, lifting December rate cut odds to around two thirds.
• Fed officials are increasingly split ahead of December, prompting vote counting as market odds for a rate cut climbed back above 60%.
• Nvidia’s blowout earnings failed to lift markets as doubts grow over the sustainability of AI spending and rising valuations across key chipmakers.
• Bitcoin ETFs saw nearly $1B in outflows in one session, the second-largest on record, signaling weakening momentum despite the sector’s $113B asset base.
• Bitcoin slid to around $80,500, heading for its worst month since 2022 as roughly $500B in value was erased and fund outflows ускорated.
• Retail stocks face a weak 2025 finish as inflation and softer jobs push shoppers toward essentials, with holiday sales likely more muted despite $1T+ spend forecasts.
• Oil slid as traders priced in higher supply if a Ukraine Russia peace deal lifts sanctions, with WTI down about 1.6% to near $58 a barrel.
• ByteDance shares changed hands in a private auction valuing TikTok’s parent at about $480B, signaling strong investor demand for top Chinese tech.

Politics Weekly

• Trump White House is preparing tariff fallback options if the Supreme Court strikes a key authority, exploring Trade Act powers to quickly reimpose duties.
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration will unveil measures this week to lower U.S. health-care costs as premiums rise.
• China’s Premier Li Qiang defended rare-earth export curbs at the G20 and launched a green mining initiative with 19 nations to promote fair critical-minerals cooperation.
• Japan PM Sanae Takaichi sparked a standoff with China over Taiwan remarks, refusing to retract them as Beijing warns of possible economic retaliation.
• The U.S. is pressing Ukraine to accept a 28-point peace proposal that includes major concessions to Russia, while Kyiv counters with its own terms rejecting several clauses.
• Zelenskiy said he agreed to work on a U.S.–Russia draft peace plan and expects further talks with Trump on the proposal.
• Trump’s Ukraine peace plan would force Ukraine to cede territory, cap its military, drop NATO hopes and accept phased sanctions relief for Russia.
• Germany is pressing the EU to reach a last minute deal allowing the UK to access the bloc’s €150 billion defense fund before the end of month deadline.
• France’s National Assembly rejecting the 2026 budget revenue section raises real risk of budget deadlock and political instability, a major EU economy and deficit story.
• Brazil’s Lula plans to call Trump over the U.S. military buildup near Venezuela, warning the escalation risks destabilizing South America.
  U.S. named Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally and approved F-35 sales, though the package was smaller than what Riyadh sought.
• Trump’s trade attacks on India, Brazil, and South Africa pushed leaders to revive the IBSA forum and tighten South-South economic coordination.
• Trump’s ceasefire push and embrace of Gen. Asim Munir boosted Pakistan’s global standing as U.S.–India relations frayed.

Technology Advancements in the week

• Microsoft and Nvidia will invest up to $15B in Anthropic, while Anthropic commits $30B to Azure compute to scale Claude across Microsoft’s cloud and Copilot stack.
• Palo Alto Networks will acquire Chronosphere for $3.35B to strengthen its AI driven cybersecurity stack and help customers manage massive data volumes.
• Musk’s xAI plans a 500-megawatt Saudi data center with state-backed Humain, built on Nvidia chips as the startup races OpenAI and Anthropic.
• UK will back a £10B Vantage data center campus in south Wales near Microsoft, plus £250M for AI compute, aiming to create 5,000 jobs.
• Banks and the FBI are probing a hack of real estate finance vendor SitusAMC after client data was stolen, though no banking service disruption was found.
• Foxconn plans a $1–5B US expansion to build AI servers for Nvidia and OpenAI, co-designing racks and scaling to 2,000 units a week by 2026.
• Musk said Tesla is close to taping out its AI5 chip and has begun AI6 development, aiming for annual chip upgrades for cars and data centers.
• The UAE will invest $1B to expand AI infrastructure and services across Africa, aiming to accelerate adoption and deepen its regional influence.

👉 Keep the conversation going! Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for more insights, delivered straight to your inbox.