Asia Markets Mixed, Europe Rises While Crude Oil Advances Above $70 - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Wednesday, December 13th, U.S. stock markets closed higher, with major three indices soaring more than 1%, as the Federal Reserve hinted at ending rate hikes and lower borrowing costs in 2024.

At the December FOMC meeting, the Fed kept interest rates at 5.25%-5.5% and predicted a decline to 4.6% by 2024's end. U.S. producer prices in November were stable, contradicting market expectations of a 0.1% increase.

The Federal Reserve added that "inflation has eased over the past year" but stuck to mentioning that it "remains elevated" and reaffirmed its "strong commitment" to steering it back to the 2% target. Additionally, the Fed underscored its ongoing commitment to a data-dependent strategy for future policy decisions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.40% to 37,090.24, the S&P 500 gained 1.37% to 4,707.09, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.38%, ending the session at 14,733.96.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan's Nikkei 225 closed Thursday trading lower by 0.80% at 32,686.25, led by losses in the Transportation Equipment, Shipbuilding, and Power sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.65%, ending at 7,377.90, led by gains in the Gold, A-REITs and IT sectors.
• In November, Australia saw a significant increase in employment, with 61,500 new jobs, surpassing the expected 11,000. 
• This follows October's 55,000 job rise. The participation rate reached a record 67.2%. However, signs of a cooling labor market appeared as unemployment rose to 3.9% and monthly work hours' growth stalled.
• China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.33% to 2,958.99, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 was down 0.52%, closing at 3,351.96.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.74%, concluding the day at 16,367.00.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 1.62%.
• Germany's DAX gained 0.77%
• France's CAC rose 1.35%.
• The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded higher by 2.21%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 1.99% at $70.86/bbl, and Brent was up by 1.98% at $75.74/bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 1.37% to $2.367.
• Gold was trading higher by 2.58% at $2,049.05, Silver climbed 6.10% to $24.320, and Copper gained 2.74% to $3.8918.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET            

Dow futures were up 0.22%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.26%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.39%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.36% to 102.50. USD/JPY was down 0.98% to 141.49 and AUD/USD slid 0.73% to 1.4901.