Market Wrap

Asian markets closed in red on Thursday amid elevated concerns of traders on muted stance of the policy makers on inflation. The magnitude of the loss in the Asian markets were relatively heavy with HIS index down by 1.29%, CSI300 down by 0.99%, KOSPI inched down by 0.51% and Nikkei extended today’s early loss by 0.30%. U.S. futures on the other hand inched up with Dow Jones up by 0.15%, S&P 500 up by 0.28% and Nasdaq 100 inching up by 0.49%. Peter Oppenheimer, strategist at Goleman Sachs in a report stated the short-term outlook for equities remains positive while markets to see a squeeze into the new year with negative real interest rates along with a high equity risk premium. Treasures stayed steady while dollar remained near to the highest level in one year. In the commodity market oil slipped sharply amid Asian countries potentially following China in making judgement to release strategic oil reserves responding to the greater call by the U.S. in an attempt to fan prices of oil. WTI extended loss to $77.988 while Brent Oil trading at $80.13. Natural gas however inched up sharply staying around $4.94. In the crypto space, Bitcoin stayed below $60,000 down by 8.80% compared to the last seven days of trading while the Ethereum is trading at $4,217.