Wall Street climbs, Larry Ellison guarantees Paramount bid; ASX set to rise
Warner Bros. Discovery rose 3 percent and Netflix fell 0.8 percent.
Dominion Energy lost 4.7 percent after the Trump administration announced it was pausing leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects. These include Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
Gold and silver touched records and oil prices rose after the US Coast Guard said it was tracking another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean.
Gold prices rose 1.9 percent and hovered around US$4,470 per ounce, contributing to steady gains throughout the year. Silver prices increased by around 1.6 percent.
While crude oil prices in the USA increased by 2.2 percent, Brent crude oil prices, which is the international standard, also increased by 2.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasury yields rose slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.16 percent from 4.15 percent at the end of Friday.
While markets in Asia strengthened, markets in Europe declined.
Markets in the US will close early on Wednesday for Christmas Eve and remain closed on Thursday for Christmas. The short week for trading includes a variety of economic reports that could shed more light on the state and direction of the U.S. economy.
On Tuesday, the government released the first of three estimates for gross domestic product that show how the U.S. economy performed in the third quarter. On Wednesday, the Labor Department will release weekly data on applications for unemployment benefits, a gauge of layoffs in the United States.
The Conference Board also announced the results of its December consumer confidence survey on Tuesday.
The upcoming reports follow a series of updates last week showing inflation remained high and consumer confidence declined last year. Overall, the job market is slowing and retail sales are weakening.
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The ongoing, wide-ranging trade war in the United States is disrupting consumers and businesses already distressed and worried by high prices. The combination of persistently high inflation and a weak labor market has put the Federal Reserve in a more difficult policy position going forward.
The Fed has cut its benchmark interest rate in its last three meetings even as inflation remains stubbornly above its 2 percent target. Fed officials became increasingly concerned about the slowing job market, forcing them to cut interest rates. However, lowering interest rates to support the economy due to a weak labor market could increase inflation.
Wall Street mostly believes the Fed will keep interest rates steady at its January meeting.
