Hiroshi Watanabe/DigitalVision via Getty Images Market Review The MSCI EAFE Index returned 4.86% in Q4 2025 and has returned 31.22% YTD (in USD). Eurozone stocks posted strong gains in the fourth quarter of 2025, with market indices reaching their highest levels in years and outperforming U.S. stocks. Value sectors such as Financials, Healthcare and Utilities lead the index while growth-oriented s...
Hiroshi Watanabe/DigitalVision via Getty Images Market Review The MSCI EAFE Index returned 4.86% in Q4 2025 and has returned 31.22% YTD (in USD). Eurozone stocks posted strong gains in the fourth quarter of 2025, with market indices reaching their highest levels in years and outperforming U.S. stocks. Value sectors such as Financials, Healthcare and Utilities lead the index while growth-oriented stocks were challenged as investors grew wary of elevated valuations. Inflationary pressures eased, prompting the European Central Bank (ECB) to maintain its policy rate in December. Additionally, the ECB revised its estimate for third-quarter 2025 eurozone GDP growth upward from 0.2% to 0.3%, signaling a modest pickup in economic activity. In the United Kingdom, stock markets closed out 2025 near their highest levels in recent years. The FTSE All-Share Index advanced by 24% for the year (local currency). Global demand, higher commodity prices, and a slightly depreciated pound were catalysts for the Financials, Materials, and Defense sectors which led the index. The Japanese equity market, as tracked by the TOPIX index, delivered a robust performance in the fourth quarter, achieving a total return of approximately 8.8% for the quarter and an annual gain of 25% (local currency terms) to close the year at a record high. This strong showing was primarily driven by resilient corporate earnings and a weaker yen which benefited exporters. The top-performing sectors during the quarter included electronics, banking, and construction, while the bottom-performing sectors included utilities and real estate investment trusts (REITs). Stretched valuations led to volatility among AI-related names toward the end of the quarter as well. From a macroeconomic perspective, Japan experienced greater political stability, proactive fiscal stimulus, and a shift to higher interest rates in late 2025, fueling economic optimism and strong equity market performance. Standardized Total Returns for Peri...
China is seeing surging public interest in science fiction amid its push for technological development, with revenues reaching a record high and online search traffic more than tripling last year, according to a new report. China’s sci-fi industry saw its gross revenues reach 126.1 billion yuan (US$18.2 billion) in 2025, up 15.7 per cent year on year, according to an annual report released at the ...
China is seeing surging public interest in science fiction amid its push for technological development, with revenues reaching a record high and online search traffic more than tripling last year, according to a new report. China’s sci-fi industry saw its gross revenues reach 126.1 billion yuan (US$18.2 billion) in 2025, up 15.7 per cent year on year, according to an annual report released at the China Science Fiction Convention on Friday, as reported by Xinhua. The report also highlighted a...
Welcome to Tech In Depth, our daily newsletter about the business of tech from Bloomberg’s journalists around the world. Today, Edward Ludlow reports on the makeup of the president’s new technology advisory council. Tech Across the Globe Anthropic’s moves: The AI company is considering going public as early as October. It also won a victory over the Pentagon’s attempts to ban its use in the US gov...
Welcome to Tech In Depth, our daily newsletter about the business of tech from Bloomberg’s journalists around the world. Today, Edward Ludlow reports on the makeup of the president’s new technology advisory council. Tech Across the Globe Anthropic’s moves: The AI company is considering going public as early as October. It also won a victory over the Pentagon’s attempts to ban its use in the US government as a supply chain risk. Pricier PlayStations : Sony is hiking the price of its PlayStation 5 game console by $100 to $650 beginning Thursday, saying global economic conditions forced the increase. FBI chief hacked : A pro-Iran hacking group claimed to breach FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email inbox and posted some of the contents online. Revalued Physical Intelligence, a two-year-old robotics startup , is in talks for a $1 billion funding round that would double the company’s valuation to more than $11 billion including dollars raised. The startup was founded by AI academics and former Google DeepMind researchers to develop models that can power robots to handle everyday tasks. Offering advice The immediate reaction to President Donald Trump’s new technology council wasn’t just about who made the list — but who didn’t. “No Elon?” one X user replied to me. The initial roster for Trump’s second President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology includes 15 members and can expand to as many as 24, according to co-chair David Sacks who spoke to me in a Bloomberg Television interview . Missing from the first cut are some of the most prominent figures in artificial intelligence, including Elon Musk, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei. Their absence stands out alongside a lineup dominated by semiconductor and infrastructure leaders such as Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison and Michael Dell, chairman and founder of Dell Technologies. All are longtime industry veterans. Presidential councils...
Barry speaks with Judd Kessler, author of Lucky by Design: The Hidden Economics You Need to Get More of What You Want, and a professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. They discuss his research into the hidden markets that allocate value to desirable things such as restaurant reservations. They also Judd's research into how couples allocate their resources within a relation...
Barry speaks with Judd Kessler, author of Lucky by Design: The Hidden Economics You Need to Get More of What You Want, and a professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. They discuss his research into the hidden markets that allocate value to desirable things such as restaurant reservations. They also Judd's research into how couples allocate their resources within a relationship and possible alternate ways to distribute concert tickets. (Source: Bloomberg)