ASIA/PACIFIC
-The Australian stock market finished lower on Friday, with every sector bar utilities retreating after Wall Street’s lower close overnight.
-Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets outperforming and investors still keeping an eye on political developments in South Korea.
-The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its MPC meeting maintained the repo rate at 6.5% for the eleventh consecutive policy meeting.
. EUROPE
-Major stock market indices in Europe closed slightly higher as Eurozone’s gross domestic product showed growth in the third quarter of 2024 at 0.4%.
-House prices in the U.K. rose 4.8% year-on-year in November, according to data published by British lender Halifax on Friday.
-The gross domestic product (GDP) in both the Eurozone and the European Union saw a quarterly expansion of 0.4% in 2024’s third trimester, matching expectations, Eurostat said.
. AMERICAS
North America
– Major Wall Street stock markets closed mostly higher after the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls increased by 227,000 last month, above the Dow Jones estimate of 214,000.
Latin America
-BNP Paribas bullish on Brazil bond deals: Local issuance is expected to power ahead next year, albeit at a less frenetic pace than in 2024, Latin Finance reported.
-Bolivia has inked deals with three international firms for extracting lithium from the nation’s vast salt flats, the Rio Times reported.
. AFRICA
-Investment banks reassess Egypt’s state-run fuel retailer Wataniya and the military-owned National Company for Producing and Bottling Water (Safi) in preparation for initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, unnamed sources told Al Arabiya Business.
-Moroccan phosphates and fertilizer giant OCP has received a green light from the AMMC capital market authority to issue an ordinary bond worth 5 billion dirhams ($500 million), the AMMC said.
-Prescient Investment Management has announced the listing of its Prescient Global Income Provider Feeder Actively Managed ETF (AMETF) on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) under the share code PREGIP.
. MIDDLE EAST
-Emirates REIT has refinanced its existing sukuk with a new $205 million sukuk due 2028 with a 7.5% profit rate, Zawya reported.
-Qatar launched on Thursday (Dec. 5) green bonds trading on London Stock Exchange.
-Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Bpifrance Assurance Export, represented by the French Treasury office in Riyadh, signed a $10bln deal for financing support, Saudi Gazete reported.
. COMMODITIES
GOLD
Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,638.66 per ounce by 0346 GMT while U.S. gold futures rose 0.5% to $2,661.00.
SILVER-PLATINUM-PALLADIUM
Spot silver dipped 0.1% to $31.3 per ounce but is up more than 2% for the week. Platinum rose 0.6% to $944.25 and palladium rose 1.5% to $977.25. Both metals are set for second straight weekly losses.
OIL
Brent crude futures fell by 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $72 per barrel by 0116 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell by 4 cents, or 0.1%, to $68.27 per barrel.
