Market Commentary - Foreign Markets
31-Dec-2024 10:58
U.S. Stock Markets Close Lower despite Strong Annual Performance
Technology stocks ended the day lower. Semiconductor stocks were significantly weak, as reflected by the 1.9% loss posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Gold stocks too were considerably weak, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 1.8%. Pharmaceutical, healthcare and retail stocks were in line with gold stock, being weak and moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
A report released by the National Association of Realtors showed pending home sales surged by much more than expected in the month of November. NAR said its pending home sales index shot up by 2.2% to 79.0 in November after jumping by 1.8% to 77.3 in October. Economists had expected pending home sales to climb by 0.7%. The pending home sales index increased for the fourth consecutive month, reaching its highest level since February 2023.
Asia-Pacific stocks moved mostly lower on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.0% and South Korea's Kopsi dipped by 0.2%, although China's Shanghai Composite Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.2%. The major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6%, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both fell by 0.4%.
In the bond market, treasuries regained ground following the weakness seen last Friday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, declined 7.4 bps to 4.54%.
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