London (AFP) – European stock markets rose Tuesday after Tokyo closed out a strong year, as silver prices rebounded amid volatile trading in precious metals. Wall Street stocks opened flat, while the dollar pushed higher against main rivals awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting. Investors will scour the minutes later in the day for clues on the outlook for US interest rates next year.
“Perhaps one of the biggest threats to stock indices for 2026 is an end to interest rate cuts, or even rate hikes in the major economies,” Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB, noted Tuesday. Investors, including central banks, have been piling into dollar-denominated silver and gold on expectations of more cuts to US interest rates next year. Gold, in particular, has rocketed to record highs this year thanks to its status as a safe haven investment amid geopolitical unrest.
The price of silver jumped more than three percent to $74.47 an ounce Tuesday, having reached a record-high $84 on Monday before tumbling as investors booked profits. Silver, a key industrial metal as well as being used for jewellery, has won additional support from tight supply concerns. Equity traders were taking it easy in the last few days of 2025 following a stellar 12 months that have seen tech firms push several stock markets to all-time highs.
Wall Street stocks “faced some mild post-Christmas indigestion on Monday, but even with that slight dip, the major averages remain not far from their best levels of the year,” said market analyst Patrick O’Hare at Briefing.com. The blue-chip Dow is heading for a gain of more than 13 percent in 2025, while the broader S&P 500 is on track for an increase of more than 17 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up more than 21 percent.
The Fed’s monetary easing in the second half of this year has been a key driver of the markets’ rally, compounding a surge in the tech sector on the back of the vast amounts of cash pumped into all things AI. It has also helped offset recent worries about a possible tech bubble and warnings that traders might not see a return on their investments in artificial intelligence for some time.
Asian markets have enjoyed a healthy year, with Seoul’s Kospi piling on more than 75 percent and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 more than 26 percent — both having hit records earlier in the year. But the two edged down Tuesday, with Sydney, Mumbai, and Taipei also lower. Hong Kong, Singapore, Wellington, Bangkok, and Jakarta rose, while Shanghai was flat.
London, Frankfurt, and Paris were all higher in afternoon trading. The CAC 40 index in Paris was heading for an annual gain of more than 10 percent, London’s FTSE 100 of over 21 percent, and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt a gain of around 23 percent. In company news, shares in Facebook owner Meta rose 0.6 percent after it announced it had agreed to buy Manus, an artificial intelligence agent created by a company founded in China but now based in Singapore.
– Key figures at around 1430 GMT –
New York – Dow: FLAT at 48,457.98 points
New York – S&P 500: FLAT at 6,903.89
New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 23,457.49
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 9,928.33
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 8,153.17
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 24,490.41
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 50,339.48 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.9 percent at 25,854.60 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,965.12 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1760 from $1.1766 on Monday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3476 from $1.3504
Dollar/yen: UP at 156.26 yen from 156.06 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 87.25 pence from 87.00 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $61.73 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $58.39 per barrel
© 2024 AFP
