In the last pre-holiday session on Friday, the stock indices showed a decrease in the single dynamics and closed in red. The Dow Jones declined by 0.11% (24754.06), S&P 500 fell by 0.05% (2683.34), the Nasdaq lost 0.08% (6959.96). European markets also went down in a single dynamics and closed in negative territory. The German DAX fell 0.28 %(13072.79), British FTSE 100 slipped 0.15% (7592.66).
Today most of the countries are celebrating Christmas, therefore, trading in stock, commodity and currency markets will be closed. As about macro statistics the following publication can be noted:
At 08:00 MSK the Index of leading economic indicators of Japan
On Friday there was a slight correction Europe was, and after a very impressive growth on Thursday, it was quite natural. Due to the more or less favorable macrodata the correction have not been developed. In Germany the index of consumer climate showed growth by 0.1 % up to 10.8 points, in line with analysts ' expectations.
French report of consumer spendings for November showed a marked increase. The previous value was of -2.1%, new is +2.2%, and this despite the fact that according to the expectations of the experts expected growth should be 1.5%. at the same time French GDP rose for 0.1% up to 0.6%. The UK also reported about GDP, year-on-year in the third quarter it decreased by 0.2% down to 1.7%, better than analysts ' forecasts who had expected a decline of 1.5%.
In the end of the session, European stocks declined slightly. Judging by the volume, most of market participants have already been busy preparing for the celebration of Christmas. Also the reduction can be justified by the technical correction on profit-taking before the long weekend.
There were mixed macro statistics in America. the main disappointment was brought by final value of consumer confidence index of Michigan University. In December, it declined to 95.9 points, from 98.5 in the previous month, and it also lost comparing the preliminary value and forecast 96.8 to 97.2. The market was pleased by the number of deals in the primary real estate market for November. Their number amounted up to 733 thousand and reached its maximum from 2007, it also significantly exceeded the expected value of 655 thousand.
In the presence of a variety of macroeconomic indicators, as well as in the absence of other strong drivers, the market participants were rather inert and the market sagged under his weight. However, the indices reached a small gain for the week.
Up to the end of trading on Friday the price of February futures for gold rose by 0.65% or $ 8.20 reaching 1278.80 dollars per ounce. Investment appeal of the yellow metal as a protective asset in recent days has increased, as investors sought to acquire a safety margin, reducing the risk of unpleasant surprises during the long weekend. At the end of the week the growth of the gold reached up to 1.7%.
Oil slightly increased due to the publication of the total number of drilling rigs operating in the United States. Last week it remained unchanged, after declining in the previous week. Overall for the week the cost of oil futures increased by 2.0%.