Fed's Williams saves the day – North American session Market Wrap for December 15

[Ben Graham]

Log in to today's North American session Market wrap for December 15

Risk sentiment was jittery to open the week and the pre-NFP session.

Stocks had a decent overnight session, pulled higher by the EuroStoxx index, but stumbled at the US open as profit-taking set in.

The hangover from Fed Goolsbee’s comments regarding the dangers of "frontloading cuts" continued to spew over today's early trading.

But NY Fed's Williams came to save the day once again.

He backed his view for sensical Fed dovishness, citing underlying weakness in the US economy—noting that the strong GDP numbers were artificially pulled higher by much lower imports—and emphasizing that inflation "isn't too much of a concern."

This presents a starkly different view compared to his peer from the Chicago Fed, helping to stabilize risk appetite, with stock indexes rallying back towards the close.

Read More:

• Who Are the Fed Speakers to Watch in 2026? A New Front-Runner for the Fed Chair
• US Stock Index Outlook: Weak sentiment ahead of NFP
• NFP Preview: Rate Path Divergence & Implications for the DXY, Gold (XAU/USD)

In terms of Macro data, the Canadian Dollar (CAD) showed decent resilience. The Loonie resisted both a strong fall in Oil (-1.40%) and a softer-than-expected inflation print.

Knowing the Canadian markets, pricing for cuts and hikes can get very distorted, with the data proving it could still be early for anything related to hikes.

Black Gold is getting dragged close to its 2025 year lows once again, hit by a combination of high supply and an ever-ecstatic President Trump, who sent very optimistic remarks regarding a soon-approaching Ukraine-Russia ceasefire.

It seems that momentum for a ceasefire is indeed brewing: EU leaders have added pressure by proposing that frozen Russian assets be used as loans to rebuild Ukraine, payable only when the war officially ends—a move that could accelerate negotiations.

Let's hope things materialize from here.

Cross-Assets Daily Performance

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Cross-Asset Daily Performance, December 15, 2025 – Source: TradingView

When a Bank of Japan rate hike materializes, all suffer.

Today was an outflow day for most assets across all classes.

Suffering the most was Bitcoin which gave up some of its weekend strength as the session opened, but rallied back a bit, lifted by the better risk-sentiment towards the close.

It was the same for all risk-assets. The rest will be to see if NFP comes to save the day (It will need to be soft, but not too much for Stocks to rally back).

A picture of today's performance for major currencies

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Currency Performance, December 15 – Source: OANDA Labs

With the US dollar attempting a rebound after a double bottom but mostly staying unchanged, it was all about other Majors today.

The Yen pulled ahead after a strong Tankan survey report which mostly profited against its safe-haven peer, the CHF.

For the rest, movement was broadly muted (the Euro pulled ahead slightly).

A look at Economic data releasing throughout this evening and tomorrow's sessions

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For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the MarketPulse Economic Calendar.

This evening session wraps up soon with Australian PMIs releasing promptly.

Some banks are expecting up to two more hikes this year, and looking at the high inflation in the Continent Island, it very could be a possibility.

But tomorrow's session is what every trader has been waiting for, for a while.

To begin with, late night (and Asian/ European) traders will start a long session with the UK Employment figures, expected at 22.3K.

Decent growth but it still shouldn't take out Thursday's Bank of England heavily priced cut.

The 3:30 A.M to 4:30 A.M. stretch releases tons of PMI numbers for Germany, the UK and the Eurozone.

But what traders have been awaiting for, is the comeback of US Data.

8:15 A.M E.T. starts the North American session with the weekly private jobs data from ADP, but is pale figure to what's coming 30 minutes later.

The November NFP is finally releasing (8:30), a bit but not too late this time, along with US Retail Sales.

With the past month's number not being released, traders will focus on the Unemployment rate.

Get ready for the event with our preview right here.

Canadian Dollar traders will also be awaiting for Governor Macklem's comments at 12:45 PM at the Chamber of Commerce in Montreal.

Safe Trades!

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