The US
Markets chose to focus on the five-month high unemployment claims, even though Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stressed that the bank would continue to keep the monetary spigot open. USA30 lost 0.36%, while USA500 traded 0.31% lower. TECH100 was down 0.12%.
Crude oil lost 0.7%, trading at $52.55 per barrel.
Gold traded 0.7% lower at $1,841.95 per ounce.
Asia and Australia
HongKong45 was up 0.21%, Japan225 added 1.45%, while Down under, Australia200 gained 0.48%.
The rest of the markets focused on the $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus unveiled by President-elect Joe Biden.
Europe
The economic readings turned out to be not as dramatic as expected, showing that the pandemic did not have the forecasted impact on the markets. Germany30 and UK100 each closed 0.4% higher. France40 rose 0.3%.
Brent oil fell 0.8% to $55.63 a barrel.
EUR/USD lost 0.1% trading at 1.2155.
Sources: reuters.com, investing.com
