ASIA/PACIFIC
-The Australian stock market at a six-month high with banks and miners leading the surge.
-Asian stocks traded higher with investors awaiting the official announcement related to the merger of Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan.
-Taiwan emerges as Asia’s best-performing stock market in 2024, gaining 25.54% as of Dec. 23.
. EUROPE
– European stocks turned in a mixed performance as a shortened trading week began in the run-up to Christmas.
-The UK Office for National Statistics reported that gross domestic product (GDP) stagnated in the third trimester of 2024.
-Italy’s trade surplus with non-EU27 countries stood at €5.9 billion in November, the country’s National Institute of Statistics revealed.
. AMERICAS
North America
-U.S. stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day with investors ready to wrap up the trading week earlier ahead of the Christmas holidays.
Latin America
-Brazil’s financial markets brace for a prolonged period of high interest rates: Analysts now project the Selic rate to reach 15%, by the end of 2025, a level not seen since 2006.
-The Mexican Peso plunge 18% in 2024, ranks 4th in global currency depreciation.
. AFRICA
-Y Combinator-backed Internet Service Provider Tizeti is set to become the first Nigerian startup to list on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), according to a report by TechCabal.
-The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced a net foreign assets surplus of $11.8bn for November 2024, marking the seventh consecutive month of positive growth.
-Algeria’s state grains agency OAIC has issued an international tender to buy milling wheat to be sourced from optional origins, European traders said on Sunday.
. MIDDLE EAST
-Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher after cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation data revived hopes for further policy easing by the Federal Reserve.
-The market volume in the Stock market in Qatar amounts to $44.95bln this year and the number of trades in 2025 is expected to reach $4.31mln, according to Statista.
-UAE Central Bank, Hong Kong Monetary Authority deepen financial market cooperation, Emirates News Agency reported.
. COMMODITIES
GOLD
Spot gold was up 0.2% to $2,626.44 per ounce, as of 0313 GMT while U.S. gold futures eased 0.1% to $2,642.10.
SILVER-PLATINUM-PALLADIUM
Spot silver rose 0.7% to $29.72 per ounce and platinum climbed 1% to $935.47, while palladium
added 0.2% to $922.31.
OIL
Brent crude futures rose 26 cents, or 0.4%, to $73.20 a barrel by 0141 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 31 cents, or 0.5%, to $69.77 per barrel.
