On Tuesday, December 17, U.S. markets closed lower, with the Dow marking its longest losing streak since 1978. Bitcoin hit record highs, and Treasury yields stabilized as investors awaited a “hard cut ” from the Fed.
Strong U.S. retail sales highlighted economic resilience, contrasting with weaker Chinese data, as key central banks prepared to make rate decisions amid inflation concerns.
U.S. retail sales rose 0.7% in November, beating expectations of 0.5%, while industrial production fell 0.1%, improving from a 0.4% decline. in October but below the forecast of a gain of 0.2%.
Most sectors of the S&P 500 closed lower, with losses greatest in the industrials, energy and financial sectors. However, consumer discretionary stocks performed better, ending the session in positive territory.
The Dow Jones fell 0.61% and closed at 43,449.90, the S&P 500 closed 0.39% lower at 6,050.61, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.32% to close at 20,109.06.
Asian markets today
- On Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.73% and closed the session at 39,120.50, with the largest losses in the shipping, insurance and rail and bus sectors.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.06% and closed at 8,309.40, with losses greatest in the financials, consumer discretionary and gold sectors.
- India’s Nifty 50 index fell 0.50% to 24,213.40, and the Nifty 500 fell 0.66% to end at 22,943.80.
- China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.62% to close at 3,382.21, and Shenzhen’s CSI 300 gained 0.51%, ending the day at 3,941.89.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.83% and closed the session at 19,864.55.
Eurozone at 5:30 a.m. ET
- The European STOXX 50 index increased by 0.29%.
- Germany’s DAX gained 0.24%.
- France’s CAC gained 0.29%.
- The UK’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.18%.
Commodities at 5:30 a.m. ET
- WTI crude was up 0.10% at $70.15 a barrel, and Brent rose 0.66% to $73.67 a barrel.
- Oil prices rose as investors remained cautious about a possible rate cut from the Federal Reserve. A decline in U.S. crude inventories supported the market, while Fed policy decisions and geopolitical tensions added uncertainty.
- Natural gas rose 0.63% to $3.329.
- Gold was up 0.07% at $2,663.64, silver fell 0.07% to $30.898 and copper gained 0.14% to $4.1520.
US futures at 5:30 a.m. ET
Dow futures rose 0.24%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.28% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.25%.
Forex at 5:30 a.m. ET
The U.S. dollar index rose 0.04% to 107.00, USD/JPY rose 0.10% to 153.62, and USD/AUD gained 0.44% to 1 ,5850.
Photo de Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock
