Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens

Good morning everyone and welcome to Rise and Shine on Friday, November 21, 2025. Here’s what you should know before the ASX opens today…

At 7am AEST Friday, ASX futures were down 1.5%, pointing to a brutal open as nerves from Wall Street seeped straight into local sentiment.

Here’s what went down last night…

Euphoria meets reality check

The Dow slipped 0.42%, the S&P 500 gave up 1%, and the Nasdaq plunged 1.47% as the session evolved from early enthusiasm into something far more cautious.

AI-heavy names shifted from momentum leaders to valuation question marks in a matter of hours.

The change in tone was evident in volatility. The VIX, or Wall Street’s fear index, surged 7% to beyond 25, its highest level since April, underscoring a market beginning to price uncertainty.

Importantly, this wasn’t triggered by a single shock. It was the cumulative weight of conflicting signals.

The US added 119,000 jobs in September (above expectations), yet the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. Strong enough to undermine the urgency for rate cuts.

This has forced Morgan Stanley to pull its December cut call entirely.

“The sharp and broad rebound in payrolls suggests the summertime slowdown might have been exaggerated… We no longer expect the Fed lowers the fed funds rate in December,” said JP’s Michael Gapen.

He now sees any easing pushed into 2026, reinforcing the view that markets may have been pricing generosity before it was earned.

Nvidia still king, just no longer untouchable

Technology stocks led the retreat, and Nvidia, as always, became the focal point of sentiment risk.

The stock initially jumped more than 5% on strong earnings and guidance before rolling over and finishing lower by 2%.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang did not shy away from the bubble narrative.

“There’s been a lot of talk about an AI bubble,” he said.

“From our vantage point, we see something very different. As a reminder, Nvidia is unlike any other accelerator. We excel at every phase of AI.”

The confidence is justified. Demand for Nvidia chips remains robust. Data centre revenue continues to surprise.

But investors are not doubting the company. They are recalibrating the multiple.

Crypto echoed the broader risk tone

Bitcoin plunged by 5% and slid below US$87,000.

Ethereum also continued its pullback, with associated equities like Coinbase and Robinhood under pressure.

As liquidity expectations soften, the highest-beta assets are predictably the first to reprice.

Commodity/forex/crypto market prices

What got you talking

Also in the news…

Health Check: AFT Pharmaceuticals (ASX:AFP) girds for major iron deficiency therapy trial.

Electrifying: Can ASX lithium stocks go ballistic again?

Experts say gold’s bull market is far from over.

Argonaut Algorithm: Volatility doesn’t mean it’s time to jump ship, it’s about buying quality.

Trading halts

Black Dragon Gold (ASX:BDG) – cap raise
Elementos (ASX:ELT) – cap raise
G11 Resources (ASX:G11) – cap raise
Skylark Minerals (ASX:SKM) – cap raise
Trek Metals (ASX:TKM) – cap raise

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Brightstar Resources is a Stockhead advertiser, itdid not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.