ASIA/PACIFIC
-The Australian stock market closed lower on Wednesday, after a mixed session on Wall Street overnight that saw the Dow soar and the Nasdaq slip as investors rotated out of tech stocks.
-Asian markets traded mixed as traders are cautious and reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of U.S. consumer price data that could potentially shift the monetary policy outlook in the world’s largest economy.
-Pakistan is planning its return to international capital markets with a debut Panda bond on the cards by the end of this year and a G3 currency bond by July 2026, finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in an interview with IFR Asia.
. EUROPE
-Major stock markets in Europe closed higher as investors reacted to some encouraging economic data.
-UK gilts posted a recovery after new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) put the headline rate at 2.5% in December, down from 2.6% the month before.
-European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane said Eurozone economy is on track for stronger growth in 2025 after a modest expansion of 1.1% in 2024.
. AMERICAS
North America
-U.S. stocks traded in the green as a moderate improvement in core inflation in December’s consumer price index and strong earnings from big banks spurred a risk-on rally.
Latin America
-B3, Brazil’s leading stock exchange, saw a 20.6% jump in trading volume in December 2024.
-Peru’s government unveils an ambitious plan to attract $16 billion in private investment by 2026.
. AFRICA
-Bonyan, a subsidiary of Compass Capital, is awaiting the Egyptian Exchange’s (EGX) approval for its temporary listing on the EGX’s main market, unnamed sources in the know told Al Mal News.
-Trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) rebounded in 2024 after five consecutive years of decline, buoyed by increased investor appetite for banking stocks, The East African reported.
– Nigeria’s naira will settle at N1,574/$1 in 2025 a recent report by Bayo Adedipe and Associates suggests.
. MIDDLE EAST
-Most stock markets in the Gulf region ended higher ahead of the closely watched report on U.S. consumer price inflation.
-Kuwaiti lenders Boubyan Bank and Gulf Bank have decided not to go ahead with merger plans, which would have created a single Shariah-compliant bank with more than $50 billion in assets, Zawya reported.
-Qatari banks witnessed an uptick in loans driven by the private sector to QR1,364.9bn showing a surge of 0.3% m-o-m in November 2024, according to QNB Financial Services (QNBFS) monthly banking sector indicators.
. COMMODITIES
GOLD
Spot gold eased 0.1% to $2,672.76 per ounce by 0300 GMT while U.S. gold futures gained 0.3% to $2,689.70 according to Reuters.
SILVER-PLATINUM-PALLADIUM
Spot silver shed 0.3% to $29.81 per ounce and palladium dropped 0.3% to $935.89. Platinum
steadied at $935.92.
OIL
Brent crude futures were up 2 cents to $79.94 a barrel by 0205 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate
crude rose 12 cents, or 0.15%, to $77.62 a barrel after a 1.6% drop.