Asia Mixed, Europe Markets Mostly Dip, Brent Crude Hits $80 - Global Markets Today While Us Was Sleeping

On Tuesday, December 19th, U.S. stock markets ended higher buoyed by the Federal Reserve's recent dovish policy shift and anticipation of key inflation data.

In economic data, November single-family housing starts surged to 1.143 million units, an 18.0% increase from October's revised figure of 969,000 units, marking the highest level since April 2022. 

Additionally, permits for future single-family home construction rose modestly by 0.7% to 976,000 units, the highest rate in one and a half years.

S&P 500's 11 primary sectors closed positively, with energy and communication services seeing the biggest percentage increases.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.68% at 37,557.92, the S&P 500 gained 0.59% to 4,768.37, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.66%, ending the session at 15,003.22.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan's Nikkei 225 closed Wednesday's trading higher by 1.37% at 33,675.94, led by gains in the Manufacturing, Precision Instruments, and Electrical/Machinery sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.65%, ending at 7,537.90, led by gains in the Gold, Telecoms Services and A-REITs sectors.
• China's Shanghai Composite declined 1.03% to 2,902.11, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 was down 1.10%, closing at 3,297.50.
• The People's Bank of China kept its one-year loan prime rate at 3.45% and the five-year mortgage rate at 4.2%, indicating a stable monetary policy stance.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.58%, concluding the day at 16,617.50.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was down 0.06%.
• Germany's DAX declined 0.14%.
• France's CAC declined 0.04%.
• The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.58%.
• U.K. annual consumer price inflation dropped to 3.9% in November from 4.6% in October, the lowest rate since September 2021. The Bank of England kept its main interest rate unchanged.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 1.18% at $74.81/bbl, and Brent was up by 1.07% at $80.08/bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 1.69% to $2.531.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.21% at $2,047.95, Silver fell 0.19% to $24.273, and Copper rose 0.35% to $3.9115.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET            

Dow futures were down 0.09%, S&P 500 futures slid 0.15%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures declined by 0.28%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.12% to 102.29, USD/JPY went down 0.35% to 143.32, and AUD/USD slid 0.05% to 1.4780.