The US
The higher-than-expected number of unemployment claims impacted the markets: USA30 fell 0.58%, while USA500 was down 0.14%. TECH100 gained 0.47% as the rumor has it that Slack is to be purchased by Salesforce.
Crude Oil settled up 1.8% at $45.71 per barrel.
Gold added 0.3% settling at $1,810.30 per ounce.
Asia and Australia
The stocks closed in the green as optimism over a viable COVID-19 vaccine didn’t dissipate.
Japan225 surged 1.60%.
HongKong45 rose 1.51% as the city is expected to impose tighter measures to curb the number of COVID-19 infections.
Down under, Australia200 gained 0.84%.
Europe
The markets traded higher, still under the influence of the COVID-19 vaccine-induced momentum. Germany30 added 0.2%. France40 and UK100 each traded 0.5% higher.
Brent Oil went up 1.4% to $48.53 a barrel.
EUR/USD traded at 1.1919 after it added 0.3%.
Sources: reuters.com, investing.com