Asia and Europe Markets Mostly Positive, Crude At $73 While Gold Remains Flat - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Monday, December 18th, U.S. stock markets ended in green, positively driven by expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts and key economic data due this week.

In economic data, the U.S. NAHBWells Fargo Housing Market Index increased to 37 in December, up from 34 the previous month, surpassing market predictions of 36.

Communication services saw the most significant gains among the S&P 500's 11 key sectors, while real estate and utilities closed the session with losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was unchanged at 37,306.02, the S&P 500 gained 0.45% to 4,740.56, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.62%, ending the session at 14,905.19.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan's Nikkei 225 closed Tuesday trading higher by 1.41% at 33,219.39, led by gains in the Paper & Pulp, Automobiles & Parts, and Chemical sectors.
• At its year-end meeting, the Bank of Japan kept its policy rate at -0.1%. Facing significant economic uncertainties and expecting core inflation above 2% until fiscal 2024, the bank continued its negative interest rate and yield curve policies.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.84%, ending at 7,489.10, led by gains in the Utilities, IT, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.
• China's Shanghai Composite increased 0.05% to 2,932.39, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 was up 0.14%, closing at 3,334.04.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.68%, concluding the day at 16,522.00.

Eurozone at 06:45 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.23%.
• Germany's DAX gained 0.43%.
• France's CAC declined 0.07%.
• The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.04%.

Commodities at 06:45 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.03% at $72.80/bbl, and Brent was down by 0.04% at $78.08/bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 2.60% to $2.438.
• Gold traded higher by 0.04% at $2,040.70, Silver increased by 0.52% to $24.233, and Copper rose by 0.85% to $3.8848.

US Futures at 06:45 AM ET            

Dow futures were up 0.07%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.10%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.09%.

Forex at 06:45 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.01% to 102.55, USD/JPY was up 1.41% to 144.76, and AUD/USD slid 0.40% to 1.4852.