U.S. stocks plunged across the board, while Chinese concept stocks bucked the trend and rose instead.

On Monday, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower, as rising U.S. Treasury yields weighed on market sentiment. Investors are anxiously awaiting the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy update, scheduled for two days from now.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 215.67 points, a decline of 0.45%, to 47,739.32 points; the Nasdaq dropped 0.14% to 23,545.90 points; and the S&P 500 index declined 0.35% to 6,846.51 points.

Star tech stocks showed mixed performance: NVIDIA rose 1.7%, and Oracle climbed 1.3%. The market is optimistic about the latest earnings report from this rising star in artificial intelligence. Apple fell 0.3%, Meta dropped 1.0%, Amazon declined 1.1%, and Google plunged 2.1%. The company plans to launch ads on its Gemini platform in 2026.

Broadcom rose nearly 3%, hitting a new all-time high, as reports indicate Microsoft is in talks with Broadcom to develop custom chips.

Tesla fell 3.4%, and Morgan Stanley announced it was lowering the company’s rating to “Hold.”

On the individual stock front, Paramount Global’s ViacomCBS has launched a hostile takeover bid of $108.4 billion for Warner Bros. Discovery, aiming to compete with Netflix in the bidding process. This news has drawn significant attention from investors. As a result, Warner Bros. Discovery’s stock price rose by about 4.4%; Paramount’s stock surged by more than 9%, while Netflix’s stock fell by 3.4%.

The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index rose 0.08%, with Baidu up 3.5%, JD.com up 0.1%, Alibaba down 0.1%, and NetEase down 2.1%.

Data released last week showed that the U.S. consumer spending price index, or PCE, posted moderate growth at the end of the third quarter, further reinforcing market expectations of a rate cut in December. However, observers anticipate that this Fed meeting will be the most divisive in years, and investors are still waiting for clues about future policy directions.

Carol Schleif, Chief Market Strategist at Bank of Montreal Private Wealth, said: “Before the Federal Reserve meeting, it’s difficult for the market to find a clear direction. We’ve just come through an exceptionally strong earnings season, and the next round of earnings reports won’t be released until four weeks from now. Right now, the only thing the market can really rely on or use as a reference is the Fed’s moves.”

Stephen Colano, Chief Investment Officer at Integrated Partners, said: “The market’s performance over the past week or two has essentially been digesting the very high probability of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut. If, for some highly unusual reason, the Fed ultimately doesn’t cut rates, the consequences would be dire—I believe the market could fall by 2% to 3%.”

In addition to the market’s expectation of interest-rate cuts, Korano also anticipates that Fed Chair Powell will emphasize that policy in the coming months will remain data-dependent—especially given last week’s release of the November ADP employment report, which showed that the labor market slowdown has intensified further. He added that Powell’s term expires in May 2026, which could prompt him to maintain a neutral stance toward market expectations regarding next year’s interest-rate path. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Powell were to say, ‘We’ve completed the rate cuts, and from now on we’ll closely monitor economic data.’ Moreover, he’d likely avoid using overly hawkish language, after all, we’ve already seen signs of weakening in the labor market. If the timing of rate cuts is pushed even further into 2026, I believe the market will face greater downward pressure in the first half of next year.”

Some investors are concerned that the Federal Reserve may adopt a cautious stance on interest-rate prospects. Andy Brenner, an analyst at NatAlliance, said, “As various new pieces of information continue to emerge and delayed economic data remain unreported, Powell will have no reason to discuss future rate cuts.”

According to data from the CME FedWatch Tool, traders currently still anticipate an 85% probability that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday—compared to as low as 30% in November.

Later this week, market attention will shift to tech-sector valuations. Broadcom and Oracle are set to release their earnings reports, at which point investors will focus closely on how companies are financing AI-related spending through debt, as well as on complex corporate mergers and acquisitions.

On Monday, Oppenheimer raised its year-end 2026 target for the S&P 500 to 8,100 points—a level that represents the highest forecast among Wall Street institutions. The firm cited strong corporate earnings and resilient macroeconomic conditions as the reasons behind this upward revision.

Rising U.S. Treasury yields are also putting some pressure on the stock market. Following a powerful earthquake off the coast of Japan, the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield immediately climbed, closing up 3.3 basis points at 4.171%. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note, closely linked to interest-rate expectations, rose by 1.8 basis points to 3.580%, accumulating a gain of nearly 10 basis points over the past three trading days.

International oil prices came under downward pressure, with the near-month WTI crude oil contract falling 2.00% to $58.88 per barrel, and the near-month Brent crude oil contract dropping 1.98% to $62.49 per barrel.

International gold prices declined, with COMEX gold futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange falling 0.61% to $4,187.20 per ounce.