Asia And Europe Markets Mostly In Green, Crude Oil And Gold Gain - Global Markets Today While Us Was Sleeping

On Thursday, December 14th, U.S. stock markets ended positively as Treasury yields reached their lowest in months, driven by a shift in investor focus away from growth stocks due to the Fed's dovish position.

In economic data, the Fed held rates steady at 5.25%-5.5%, forecasting a decrease to 4.6% by 2024's end. U.S. retail sales unexpectedly rose 0.3% in November, while jobless claims dropped to 202,000, below the anticipated 220,000.

Most S&P 500 sectors ended higher, led by energy and real estate, while consumer staples and utilities underperformed, closing lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.43% to 37,248.35, the S&P 500 gained 0.26% to 4,719.55, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.19%, ending the session at 14,761.56.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan's Nikkei 225 closed Friday's trading higher by 0.93% at 32,970.55, led by gains in the Chemical, Fishery and Retail sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.88%, ending at 7,442.70, led by gains in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Materials sectors.
• China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.56% to 2,942.56, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 was down 0.31%, closing at 3,341.55.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 2.58%, concluding the day at 16,790.00.
• China's November data showed significant industrial output growth, its highest since February 2022, but retail sales expansion fell short of expectations.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.33%.
• Germany's DAX gained 0.50%.
• France's CAC rose 0.75%.
• The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.46%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.50% at $71.94/bbl, and Brent was up by 0.44% at $76.94/bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 1.38% to $2.425.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.60% at $2,057.15, Silver climbed 0.60% to $24.538, and Copper gained 0.35% to $3.9062.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET            

Dow futures were up 0.29%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.24%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.27%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.06% to 102.02 USD/JPY, down 0.11% to 141.72, and AUD/USD slid 0.34% to 1.4878