U.S. equities extended their Thanksgiving week rally on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq climbing about 0.8% (roughly 189 points to 23,214.69) and the S&P 500 and Dow also advancing, while the VIX declined as traders priced in a growing chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December. Recent U.S. data releases—including durable goods orders, jobless claims, regional PMIs and the Fed’s Beige Book—were absorbed without derailing the positive tone, contributing to what several outlets describe as the strongest Thanksgiving week for major indices in over a decade.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX edged higher for a fourth straight session, supported by easing geopolitical worries and the same U.S. rate-cut narrative; index gains were helped by stock-specific moves such as a more than 4% rise in Deutsche Börse after a JPMorgan upgrade and a roughly 13% jump in Puma on takeover speculation. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added about 1.28%, logging a third consecutive gain, with Real Estate, Banking and Textile names leading the advance, while a weaker yen in a risk-on environment helped the index push toward the 50,000 level.

Across commodities, U.S. natural gas prices were steady on the day near $4.56 per MMBtu but remain up around 18% over the past month, while Dutch TTF futures slipped roughly 2.3% as Middle East tensions eased and European gas markets showed signs of stabilization amid shifting CO₂ and power-cost dynamics. Brent crude fell about 0.5% toward $62.5–62.8 per barrel in thin holiday-week trade, pressured by expectations of a possible Russia–Ukraine ceasefire that could loosen sanctions and increase Russian supply ahead of an OPEC+ meeting where production policy is widely expected to stay unchanged. Gold, meanwhile, eased around 0.3% from a near two-week high to roughly $4,153 per ounce as investors took profits and weighed mixed Fed communications and speculation over a potentially more dovish successor to Fed Chair Powell, even as overall market expectations for a December cut remained firm.