Dollar's Strength Continues, Asia Ex-China Up, Europe Edges Lower - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Friday, December 20, U.S. markets closed in green, recovering from midweek losses as softer inflation data and dovish Federal Reserve comments eased concerns over interest rates. All major indexes advanced, led by real estate and small-cap stocks. However, markets ended the week lower, snapping a multi-week streak of gains amid lingering economic uncertainties.

In economic data, the U.S. PCE price index rose 0.1% in November, below expectations of 0.2%. Michigan consumer sentiment climbed to 74 in December, its highest since April, up from 71.8 in November.

All sectors of the S&P 500 ended positively, led by notable gains in utilities, real estate, and information technology.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.18% and closed at 42,840.26, the S&P 500 closed higher by 1.09% at 5,930.85, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.03% to finish at 19,572.60.

Asia Markets Today

• On Monday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.16% and ended the session at 39,172.50, led by gains in the Glass, Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic and Real Estate sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.67% and ended the day at 8,201.60, led by gains in the Financials, Consumer Discretionary, and A-REITs sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.66% to 23,743.90, and Nifty 500 was up 0.37%, closing at 22,412.30, led by gains in the Real Estate, Banking, and Oil & Gas sectors.
• China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.50% to close at 3,351.26, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 gained 0.15%, finishing the day at 3,933.57.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.82% and closed the session at 19,883.13.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.19%.
• Germany’s DAX slid 0.21%.
• France’s CAC fell 0.02%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 index traded higher by 0.09%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.30% at $69.25/bbl, and Brent was down 0.32% at $72.31/bbl.
• Natural Gas rose 1.64% to $3.466.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.41% at $2,633.99, Silver was up 0.62% to $30.135 and rose 0.50% to $4.1250.

U.S. Futures at 06:00 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.05%, S&P 500 futures were up 0.10%, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.26%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

• The U.S. dollar index gained 0.45% to 108.10, the USD/JPY rose 0.26% to 156.82, and the USD/AUD was up 0.11% to 1.5999.
• The U.S. dollar hovered near a two-year high, boosted by modest inflation data and Federal Reserve projections signaling a measured pace of rate cuts.

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