Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.12%

Investing.com-- International Business Machines ( is in advanced talks to buy data-infrastructure firm Confluent Inc (NASDAQ:CFLT) for about $11 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The report said a deal could be announced as soon as Monday, though the talks could still fall apart. Confluent last closed with a market value near $8 billion, while IBM was valued at roughly $290 billion, the WSJ said.

Confluent provides technology that manages real-time data streams used in large AI models, and demand for its tools has risen across sectors, including retail and financial services.

An acquisition would mark IBM’s largest transaction in years as it reshapes itself around artificial-intelligence technologies, the report said.

The newspaper noted that IBM agreed last year to buy cloud-software company HashiCorp for $6.4 billion, part of a broader pivot toward higher-growth cloud and AI businesses. IBM has been expanding its quantum-computing efforts and using AI to automate certain HR functions as it shifts staff toward programming and sales roles.

Investing.com-- Asian stock markets were rangebound on Monday as investors cautiously awaited a potential Federal Reserve rate cut later this week, while they assessed Japan’s downwardly revised economic growth figures.

Wall Street index futures were largely muted in Asia hours after weekly gains.

Asian markets cautious ahead of Fed move

Markets were supported by firm expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would cut interest rates later this week.

Recent signs of slowing economic momentum in the U.S., including weaker employment indicators, have pushed the probability of a 25‑basis‑point cut to around 85%, boosting hopes that lower borrowing costs could support global growth and equities.

However, optimism was tempered by caution as some Fed officials signaled that a December rate cut is far from certain. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell earlier emphasized that the upcoming decision “is not a foregone conclusion, far from it,” keeping investors wary of potential hawkish surprises.

Back in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was largely unchanged on Monday, while South Korea’s KOSPI edged 0.3% higher.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.3%, each.

India’s Nifty 50 ticked 0.1% lower at open.

Chinese shares saw large swings, with the blue chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 jumping over 1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 1.1%.

Japan Q3 GDP revised downward

Investor sentiment in Asia was further influenced by revised economic data from Japan. Official figures showed that Japan’s economy contracted more sharply in the third quarter than previously estimated.

Annualized GDP fell by 2.3%, down from the earlier estimate of 1.8%, reflecting weaker capital expenditure and softer domestic demand.

Despite the downward revision, the weaker Q3 growth is unlikely to derail expectations for a near-term rate hike by the Bank of Japan.

Persistent inflationary pressures and resilient wage growth continue to underpin the case for monetary tightening, with markets pricing in a high likelihood of a BOJ rate increase when it meets on December 18–19.