Asian stock markets are recording a mixed trend with a tendency for index descent, after trade data published in China has raised concerns that the Chinese government would soon raise the interest rate in order to fight inflation. As such, the Tokyo stock exchange weakened by 0.2%, the Hong Kong stock exchange dropped 0.3%, the Seoul stock exchange rose by 0.1%, the Singapore stock exchange fell 0.2%, Taiwan was trading stably and the Shanghai exchange recorded a 0.5% rise.
Wall Street trading locked yesterday on a mixed trend with a tendency for index rises based on positive economic data published today in the United States. By the end of the trading day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has locked at a lighted descent to a level of 11,369, the NASDAQ index climbed 0.3% to a level of 2,616 points, whereas the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to a level of 1,232 points, its highest level since September 2008.
In the macroeconomic scene, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday that the number of new unemployment claims had descended last week to 421 thousand. Analysts had expected a more moderate decline to a level of 425 thousand new claims. In China, trade data for November has shown that the country’s import and export had both reached new highs. China’s trade surplus had declined to 22.9 billion dollars as compared to October’s 27.15 billion. China is expected to publish its inflation data this Saturday, as well as to make an announcement soon on raising the country’s interest rate.
In the global currency market, the United States dollar continues weakening, losing about 0.1% against the British pound, currently trading at 1.5800 United States dollars for one British pound. The dollar also weakened by 0.4% against the Swiss Franc, trading at 0.983 Swiss francs for one United States dollars. Gold prices decreased by 0.1% to 1391 United States dollars for one ounce of gold, whereas gold prices advanced 0.1% to a total of 88.49 United States dollars for one barrel of oil.
