Australian Market

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3%, recovering from an early dip amid gains by mining and tech stocks. Iron-ore stocks powered up, and shares of lithium miners also rose. The financial sector, however, edged lower.

US Market 

U.S. stocks wobbled as investors eyed protests in China and pondered what Fed Chairman Jerome Powell might say in a coming speech. The S&P 500 retreated 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat.

Powell is set to speak Wednesday at the Brookings Institution, the last major scheduled speech for Fed officials before the next rate-setting meeting Dec. 13-14. Whatever he says could be a preview of that meeting, said Jason Draho, the head of asset allocation in the Americas for UBS Global Wealth Management. There is some concern, Draho said, that a hawkish tone from Powell on Wednesday could undo the gains that equities have made over the past two months. “There’s a little bit of fear,” he said.

Commodities

Gold futures recouped most of its losses from a day earlier, as the U.S. dollar stabilized. Gold futures for February delivery, which is the most-active contract, rose 0.5% to settle at $1,763.70 an ounce on Comex. Gold futures climbed on the heels of a big relief rally in Chinese and Hong Kong equity markets, said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and Forex.com.

Gold, however, is “by no means out of the woods,” he said. “A potential recovery in the dollar and still-rising interest rates around the world means investors might shy away from low- and zero-yielding assets like gold.”

Oil Futures

U.S. oil futures settled higher, finding support as signs China might loosen Covid-19 restrictions helped ease worries about energy demand. Speculation that major oil producers may agree to cut production at a meeting on Sunday also contributed to the day’s gains for the U.S. crude benchmark, analysts said. 

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery rose 1.2% to settle at $78.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. January Brent crude, declined 0.2% to settle at $83.03 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. There’s “increased chatter” in the energy space that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will cut production at the Dec. 4 meeting, said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities USA.

Forex

Major currencies were weaker against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from highs near US$1.0390 to lows near US$1.0320 and was near US$1.0330 in late US trade. The
Aussie dollar eased from highs near US67.45 cents to lows near US66.80 cents and was near US66.85 cents in late US trade. And the Japanese yen eased from near 137.87 yen per US dollar to near JPY138.85 and was around JPY138.75 in late US trade.

European Markets

European sharemarkets were mixed on Tuesday. Miners rose 2.7% and oil & gas rose 1.8%. But technology lost 1.2% and chemicals lost 1.7%. There were earlier gains of around 3% in Chinese sharemarkets on hopes for an easing of Covid curbs and a relaxation of regulations on developer fundraising. In Europe there were signs that price pressures were easing substantially with German inflation unchanged in November. The continentwide FTSEurofirst 300 index was flat and the UK FTSE 100 lifted by 0.5%.

Asian Markets

Earlier Tuesday, Chinese shares ended higher, boosted by the property sector after a regulator eased equity financing for real-estate companies. Protests against Covid-related curbs in the country led to speculation about a potential earlier reopening that buoyed financial and consumer-related sectors.

The Shanghai Composite Index added 2.3%, the highest closing in more than two months. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 2.1% and the ChiNext Price Index ended 1.8% higher. The Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.5%, as investors remained cautious about the global growth outlook.