Market Update 09/01/2025

• Asian stock markets closed mixed, with the Nikkei down 0.2%, Hang Seng down 0.9%, and Australia’s ASX 200 up 0.8%. Australia’s annual CPI grew 2.3% year-on-year (expected 2.2%), causing AUD/USD to briefly rise to 0.62415 before quickly retreating.

• U.S. stocks were steady yesterday, with the Dow Jones flat, S&P 500 down 0.1%, and Nasdaq up 0.1%. Brent crude oil initially rose 1.0% to $77.50/barrel, then gave back some gains, falling 1.4% to $73.25/barrel. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose 1 basis point to 4.69%. U.S. ADP employment change was 122,000, below the expected 139,000. Initial jobless claims were 201,000, lower than the estimated 215,000. FOMC minutes were released but provided little new information. Wall Street remained stable, with the dollar slightly softer against other G10 currencies.

• European stock markets opened higher but mostly closed lower, with the CAC index and Stoxx index down 0.5% and 0.3% respectively. Due to disappointing German factory orders in November (month-on-month -5.4%, expected -0.2%), EUR/USD and GBP/USD fell from highs of 1.0357 and 1.2493, later rebounding with EUR/USD back above 1.0300 and GBP/USD above 1.2350. The Eurozone’s final consumer confidence index for December held steady at -14.5, with services confidence slightly improving and economic and industrial confidence slightly declining.