ASIA:

The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:

• NIKKEI 225 decreased 377.64 points or -1.45% to 25,716.86
• Shanghai increased 7.00 points or 0.22% to 3,123.52
• Hang Seng increased 647.82 points or 3.22% to 20,793.11
• ASX 200 increased 113.00 points or 1.63% to 7,059.20
• Kospi increased 37.30 points or 1.68% to 2,255.98
• SENSEX decreased 636.75 points or -1.04% to 60,657.45
• Nifty50 decreased 189.60 points or -1.04% to 18,042.95

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD increased 0.01115 or 1.66% to 0.68445
• NZDUSD increased 0.00546 or 0.87% to 0.63036
• USDJPY increased 1.498 or 1.14% to 132.498
• USDCNY decreased 0.02194 or -0.32% to 6.90136

Precious Metals:

• Gold increased 11.80 USD/t oz. or 0.64% to 1,851.29
• Silver decreased 0.234 USD/t. oz or -0.98% to 23.749

Some economic news from last night:

Japan:

Manufacturing PMI (Dec) decreased from 49.0 to 48.9

Foreign Bonds Buying increased from -941.4B to -459.5B

Foreign Investments in Japanese Stocks increased from -668.8B to -265.1B

Some economic news from today:

Hong Kong:

Retail Sales (YoY) (Nov) decreased from 3.9% to -4.2%

India：

Nikkei Services PMI (Dec) increased from 56.4 to 58.5

EUROPE/EMEA:

The major Europe stock markets had a green day:

• CAC 40 increased 152.54 points or 2.30% to 6,776.43
• FTSE 100 increased 31.10 points or 0.41% to 7,585.19
• DAX 30 increased 309.11 points or 2.18% to 14,490.78

The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:

• EURUSD increased 0.00636 or 0.60% to 1.06096
• GBPUSD increased 0.01012 or 0.85% to 1.20672
• USDCHF decreased 0.00675 or -0.72% to 0.92905

Some economic news from Europe today:

Swiss:

CPI (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 0.1% to -0.2%

France:

French CPI (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 0.3% to -0.1%

French HICP (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 0.4% to -0.1%

French Services PMI (Dec) increased from 49.3 to 49.5

Spain:

Spanish Services PMI (Dec) increased from 51.2 to 51.6

Italy:

Italian Services PMI (Dec) increased from 49.5 to 49.9

Germany:

German Services PMI (Dec) increased from 46.1 to 49.2

Euro Zone:

S&P Global Composite PMI (Dec) increased from 47.8 to 49.3

Services PMI (Dec) increased from 48.5 to 49.8

US/AMERICAS:

The highly anticipated Federal Reserves minutes report was released this Wednesday. At the December meeting, members agreed that rates must continue to rise for “some time”. The members deemed persistent inflation “unacceptably high” and cautioned against loosening policy prematurely.  “Participants generally observed that a restrictive policy stance would need to be maintained until the incoming data provided confidence that inflation was on a sustained downward path to 2 percent, which was likely to take some time,” the meeting summary stated. The minutes report continued by stating that members want to “clearly communicate” that they will not pivot on their stance regardless of signs of slowing inflation as consistent price stability is the end goal.

International Monetary Fund director Kristaliana Georgieva announced that a global recession is looming for 2023, and the US will be one of the primary drivers of the worldwide decline. The IMF director said up to one-third of the global economy could end up in a recession in the coming months, predicting a “tough year” ahead.

US Market Closings:

• Dow advanced 133.4 points or 0.4% to 33,269.77
• S&P 500 advanced 28.83 points or 0.75% to 3,852.97
• Nasdaq advanced 71.78 points or 0.69% to 10,458.76
• Russell 2000 advanced 21.81 points or 1.25% to 1,772.54

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite advanced 145.06 points or 0.75% to 19,588.83
• TSX 60 advanced 8 points or 0.68% to 1,181.8

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa advanced 1,168.72 points or 1.12% to 105,334.46

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a mixed day today:

• Crude Oil decreased 3.281 USD/BBL or -4.26% to 73.649
• Brent decreased 3.528 USD/BBL or -4.30% to 78.572
• Natural gas increased 0.1572 USD/MMBtu or 3.94% to 4.1452
• Gasoline decreased 0.0796 USD/GAL or -3.37% to 2.2816
• Heating oil decreased 0.0939 USD/GAL or -3.04% to 2.9926

The above data was collected around 13:15 EST on Wednesday

• Top commodity gainers: Natural Gas (3.94%), Cocoa (1.32%), Butter (1.34%) and Palladium (4.92%)
• Top commodity losers: Coffee (-3.43%), Wheat (-3.76%), Brent (-4.30%) and Crude Oil (-4.26%)

The above data was collected around 13:20 EST Wednesday.

BONDS:

Japan 0.458% (+3.7bp), US 2’s 4.36% (-0.043%), US 10’s 3.7145% (-7.75bps); US 30’s 3.83% (-0.063%), Bunds 2.28% (-9.6bp), France 2.793% (-13bp), Italy 4.302% (-19.8bp), Turkey 9.00% (+47bp), Greece 4.537% (-8bp), Portugal 3.277% (-12.6bp); Spain 3.302% (-15.6bp) and UK Gilts 3.500% (-15.4bp).

More By This Author:

Market Talk - Tuesday, Jan. 3
Market Talk - Thursday, Dec. 22
Market Talk - Wednesday, Dec. 21