Markets remained subdued as inflation and inflation combat dominated sentiment amidst a 50-basis points rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Caution also prevailed ahead of the ECB's interest rate review on Thursday and U.S. inflation data release on Friday. Decline in Germany's factory orders and Euro Area's construction PMI numbers too dampened sentiment.
Asian markets finished mixed. European equity markets are trading lower. Wall Street Futures are also trading in negative territory. Fears of more rate hikes pushed the Dollar and the Dollar Index higher. Bond yields however eased across tenors and geographies. Crude Oil prices dropped despite relaxation in Covid curbs by China. Gold edged up. Cryptocurrencies plunged again.
Here is a snapshot of the world markets at this hour across stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities and cryptocurrencies.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 32,810.10, down 0.32% S&P 500 (US500) at 4,108.30, down 0.32% Germany's DAX at 14,516.35, down 0.94% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 7,598.73, down 0.12% France's CAC 40 at 6,499.07, down 0.76% Euro Stoxx 50 at 3,804.85, down 0.87% Japan's Nikkei 225 at 27,943.95, up 0.10% Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 7,095.70, down 1.53%China's Shanghai Composite at 3,241.76, up 0.17% Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 21,528.00, down 0.58%
Currencies:
EURUSD at 1.0685, down 0.08%GBPUSD at 1.2501, down 0.23%USDJPY at 132.65, up 0.60%AUDUSD at 0.7192, up 0.01%USDCAD at 1.2594, up 0.16%Dollar Index at 102.54, up 0.10%
Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 3.029%, down 0.30% Germany at 1.2915%, down 2.82%France at 1.809%, down 2.19%U.K. at 2.2435%, down 0.20%Japan at 0.241%, down 1.63%
Commodities:
Crude Oil WTI Futures (Jul) at $118.15, down 0.30%Brent Oil Futures (Aug) at $119.17, down 0.28%Gold Futures (Aug) at $1,849.85, up 0.33%
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $29,670.15, down 5.50%Ethereum at $1,769.86, down 6.80%BNB at $284.39, down 8.69% Cardano at $0.5899, down 7.79%XRP at $0.392, down 3.17%
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December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.