Asian Markets Up, Europe Closed; Dollar Hovers Near 2-Year High - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Tuesday, December 24th, U.S. markets closed higher in an abbreviated Christmas Eve session, driven by gains in megacap and growth stocks, marking a continued Santa Claus rally. The Dow and Nasdaq logged four-session gains, while Tesla’s surge boosted the consumer discretionary sector. Chipmakers like Broadcom and Arm Holdings also advanced despite elevated U.S. Treasury yields.

Every sector of the S&P 500 ended in positive territory, led by notable gains in consumer discretionary, financial, and information technology stocks.

In economic data, the U.S. Redbook index rose 5.9% year-over-year last week, up from 4.8%. Meanwhile, the Fifth District composite manufacturing index improved to -10 in December from -14.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.91% and closed at 43,297.03, the S&P 500 closed higher by 1.10% at 6,040.00, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.35% to finish at 20,031.13.

Asia Markets Today

• On Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.39% and ended the session at 39,578.00, led by gains in the Shipbuilding, Automobiles & Parts, and Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic sectors.
• Australia markets closed for the Boxing Day holiday.
• India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.16% to 22,438.20, and Nifty 500 was up 0.14%, closing at 23,761.95, led by gains in the Auto, Power, and Public Sector Undertakings sectors.
• China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.14% to close at 3,398.08, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 gained 0.05%, finishing the day at 3,987.48.
• Hong Kong market closed for the first weekday after Christmas Day.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 closed for the Boxing Day holiday.
• German markets closed for the Boxing Day holiday.
• France’s CAC closed for the Boxing Day holiday.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 closed for the Boxing Day holiday.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.61% at $70.53/bbl, and Brent was up 0.56% at $73.58/bbl.
• Natural Gas fell 2.31% to $3.421.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.36% at $2,645.09, Silver was up 0.19% to $30.340, and Copper rose 0.11% to $4.1147.

U.S. Futures at 06:00 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.36%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.39%, and Nasdaq 100 futures slid 0.42%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.04% to 108.16. USD/JPY rose 0.03% to 157.45, and USD/AUD rose 0.14% to 1.6048.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock