ASIA/PACIFIC
-The Australian stock market finished Thursday’s trading session flat following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight.
-Asian markets fell as investors assess how Nvidia’s results might impact tech shares in the region.
-Shares of India’s Adani Group companies plunged after its billionaire chair Gautam Adani was indicted in a New York federal court on charges regarding an alleged bribery and fraud scheme. The group’s flagship firm Adani Enterprises tanked 23%.
. EUROPE
– Major European stock markets started the trading session mixed amid weak global market sentiment and closed higher as investors focused on earnings and economic data.
-Member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council and Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told a conference in Tokyo, that inflation is “shifting to the downside,” adding that “possible U.S. tariffs are not expected to alter significantly the inflation outlook in Europe.”
-French manufacturing monthly index of confidence rose to 97 in November from a low of 93 in October, data published by statistical agency Insee showed.
. AMERICAS
North America
– Major Wall Street stock indices traded lower during premarket hours but the major averages all finished the day in positive territory, with the Dow posting a standout gain.
Latin America
-El Salvador finds demand for bond buyback: Investors tender $388 mln in Central American nation’s latest offer, Latin Finance reported.
. AFRICA
-The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has signed a Customs Mutual Administrative Agreement (CMAA) with its Indian counterpart, the Nigerian Tribune reported.
-South Africa’s rand is one of only 3 winning Emerging Markets currencies in 2024 – but now pessimists are back
-Access Bank announced that it will acquire Mauritius-based Afrasia Bank Limited.
. MIDDLE EAST
-Most stock markets in the Gulf were muted in early trading and closed the day lower as tension between Russia and Ukraine kept investors on edge.
-Saudi energy giant Aramco plans to take on more debt for capital but the increasing appetite for debt would have little to do with dividends, its CFO Ziad Al-Murshed told Bloomberg News
-UAE leads Middle Eastern banking sector with $1.1trln assets, a new report from Arthur D. Little (ADL) reveals.
. COMMODITIES
GOLD
Spot gold was up 0.6% at $2,666.00 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures rose 0.6% to $2,668.60 amid intensifying Russia-Ukraine tensions. Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile during an attack on Ukraine, Kyiv’s air force said, after Ukraine fired U.S. and British missiles at targets inside Russia this week.
SILVER-PLATINUM-PALLADIUM
Spot silver was steady at $30.85 per ounce, platinum was unchanged at $961.30 and palladium advanced 1.5% to $1,036.50.
OIL
Brent crude futures rose $1.22, or 1.68%, to $74.03 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures
rose $1.20 or 1.75%, to $69.95 per barrel. “For oil, the risk is if Ukraine targets Russian energy infrastructure, while the other risk is uncertainty over how Russia responds to these attacks,” said ING analysts in a note.
