Main by morning: Meta goes to closed models, Cisco updates dotcom-era maxima

Meta is moving from open-source to creating a closed commercial model of Avocado and rebuilding internal teams under the personal leadership of Mark Zuckerberg. Cisco shares, meanwhile, riding a wave of renewed interest in infrastructure technologies, surpassed their dotcom-era highs for the first time. These and other topics are in our review of key events for the morning of December 11.

The US Federal Reserve (Fed) cut its key rate by 0.25 p.p. for the third consecutive month, setting the range at 3.5-3.75%. The decision, which was fully in line with market expectations, reflects slowing job growth and rising unemployment since September, while inflation remains above target. The Fed statement emphasized the high uncertainty in the economic outlook and the need to balance risks to employment and price stability.

Analysts paid attention to the change in wording in the release: the Fed no longer calls unemployment "low" and adds a reference to the possible "scope and timing" of further rate adjustments - previously this was used as a signal to pause in policy easing. Fed chief Jerome Powell said the regulator can afford to wait for more clarity on the labor market and inflation.

Meta is reconsidering its approach to the development of artificial intelligence and moving from open-source to creating a closed model of Avocado, which is expected to launch in the spring, Bloomberg has learned. According to the agency, Mark Zuckerberg is personally leading the project and strengthening the team with expensive hires, including Alexander Wang, who came after the deal with Scale AI.

The company uses third-party models, including Chinese models, and limits public communications about its open-source developments after the unsuccessful release of Llama 4. The change in strategy is accompanied by significant investments, the agency notes. Amid the spending, Meta is scaling back projects in VR and meta-universe, and is also facing personnel changes, including the departure of one of the leading AI researchers and Meta vice president Jan Lekun and the reduction of 600 employees in the AI division.

Cisco shares have hit an all-time high, surpassing the record set in March 2000, when the company became the world's most valuable company amid the Internet boom, CNBC reports. Now, after two decades of diversification and major acquisitions - from Scientific-Atlanta to Webex, AppDynamics, Duo and Splunk - Cisco's market capitalization has reached $317 billion, although the company is far behind the leaders of the new AI era in terms of growth, the channel notes.

Despite lagging behind, Cisco is trying to build itself into the infrastructure boom around artificial intelligence. According to CEO Chuck Robbins, the company received $1.3 billion in AI infrastructure orders in the last quarter, and its stock is up 36% in 2025, outperforming the Nasdaq.

South Korea's SK Hynix said it is exploring a possible listing in the U.S., CNBC writes. The company said it is considering "various measures to increase value," including a listing on the U.S. market using treasury stock.

SK Hynix securities in Seoul have jumped almost 230% since the beginning of the year, the channel points out. The company's valuation is growing rapidly due to the global demand for artificial intelligence equipment, CNBC explains.

- Japan's broad Topix index was down 0.77%, while the Nikkei 225 was down 0.92% in Dec. 11 trading.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was little changed, while mainland China's CSI 300 index fell 0.46%.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index was down 0.38% and the Kosdaq was almost unchanged.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.15%.

- S&P 500 futures were down 0.86 percent, Nasdaq Composite futures were down 1.13 percent and Dow Jones Industrial Average exchange-traded contracts were down 0.47 percent.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor