ASIA/PACIFIC
-The Australian stock market closed higher on Tuesday ending its losing streak as Santa Rally kicked off.
-Asian markets were mixed following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight.
-Chinese listings in U.S. hint at recovery despite geopolitical headwinds: Number of IPOs rebounds but total deal value falls short of peak years, Nikkei Asia reported.
. EUROPE
– European stocks closed broadly lower weighed down by political uncertainty in Germany and France.
-The UK jobless rate came in line with analysts’ expectations, holding steady at 4.3% during August to October period.
-Switzerland’s Federal Government Expert Group on Business Cycles has marginally downgraded its 2025 economic growth forecast to 1.5%, down from 1.6%, citing delays in Europe’s recovery and global economic uncertainty.
. AMERICAS
North America
-Major stock market indices in the U.S. closed lower as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s newest monetary policy decision.
Latin America
-The latest Focus report from Brazil’s Central Bank sees inflation rising to 4.89%, exceeding the bank’s target.
-S&P Global Ratings affirmed its ‘BBB’ long-term foreign currency and ‘BBB+’ long-term local currency sovereign credit ratings on Mexico.
. AFRICA
-Foreign portfolio investment as well as Nigeria’s trade surplus will persist into the fourth quarter of 2024 and early 2025, according to a number of finance and economic analysts.
-Egypt’s trade deficit surged to $4.40bn in September 2024, up 22.8% on an annual basis, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
-Intra-African trade remains critically low, despite more than 40 distinct currencies in the continent, according to a report by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
. MIDDLE EAST
-Saudi Global Ports (SGP), a joint venture between the sovereign Public Investment Fund and Singapore’s PSA International, has tapped banks ahead of a potential IPO, Bloomberg reported.
-Institutional investors polled by InspIR Connect have shared the view that in less than a decade, the Gulf region will outrank the Latin American market in the MSCI and FTSE indices.
-The vault of Syria’s central bank holds nearly 26 tons of gold, the same amount it had at the start of its bloody civil war in 2011 four people familiar with the situation told Reuters.
. COMMODITIES
GOLD
Spot gold ticked up 0.1% to $2,655.07 per ounce, as of 0335 GMT while U.S. gold futures were flat at $2,672.40.
SILVER-PLATINUM-PALLADIUM
Spot silver was down 0.2% to $30.47 per ounce, platinum steadied at $936.30, while palladium was flat at $947.41.
OIL
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 6 cents at $70.65 a barrel at 0112 GMT, while Brent crude futures fell 1 cent to $73.90 a barrel.
