Australian Market

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tacked on 0.2%, recovering from an early stumble to snap a three-day losing streak. Gains by financial, consumer and tech stocks just about offset weakness in commodity stocks, as the materials sector continued to stutter.

US Market 

Stocks slipped, as investor enthusiasm about a potential slowdown in interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve faded. The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, paring its steeper losses from earlier in the day. The echnology-focused Nasdaq Composite was also down 0.3%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down less than 0.1%. All three indexes remain up for November.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said interest rates have to rise higher to restrict the economy to an extent that brings inflation back to the Fed’s target. “A lot of the market’s rally over the past week has been on expectations that the Fed will imminently pivot,” said Edward Park, chief investment officer at Brooks Macdonald. “The Fed has made clear it won’t do that.”

Commodities

Gold futures declined, with strength in the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields pulling prices to their lowest settlement in a week, after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said higher interest rates are needed to bring inflation down. Gold prices for December delivery lost 0.7% to settle at $1,763 per ounce on Comex. Gold prices “got beat up after a round of hawkish Fed speak reminded investors that the risks of the Fed taking rates above 5% are clearly there,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.

Oil Futures

Oil futures tallied back-to-back declines, with U.S. prices ending at their lowest since late September, as China’s zero-Covid policy continued to dull the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery fell 4.6% to settle at $81.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. January Brent crude declined 3.3% to $89.78 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. Crude oil continued to “drift downward, with demand a bigger area of concern for investors than supply,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.

Forex

Major currencies were mixed against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from US$1.0405 to US$1.0310 and was near US$1.0365 at the close of US trade. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US67.50 cents to US66.30 cents and was near US66.90 cents at US close. And the Japanese yen eased from near 138.90 yen per US dollar to near JPY140.70 and was around JPY140.15 at the US close of trade.

European Markets

European sharemarkets were mixed on Thursday. The continentwide FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 0.3%. And the UK FTSE 100 fell by 0.1%. But the German sharemarket rose 0.2%, supported by a 7% rise in shares of engineering and technology group Siemens. Siemens posted upbeat fourth quarter results and provided a positive earnings outlook. But weighing on sharemarkets in Europe were declines in miners and healthcare stocks. In London, finance minister Jeremy Hunt handed down a budget that included tax increases and tighter public spending.

Asian Markets

Earlier Thursday, Chinese shares ended the session mixed, with the Shanghai Composite Index down for a second day amid rising Covid-19 cases in the country, which are testing Beijing’s decision last week to ease some pandemic-related restrictions. Coal miners and auto makers dragged on the market, while software companies strengthened.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1%, the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.1% and the ChiNext Price Index retreated 0.7%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gave back 1.2%, dragged down by Chinese tech shares. The Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.3% amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the region after North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast.