US Stocks Close Lower Over Omicron Concerns And Fed Rate Hike Signals, Europe Lower Over Inflation

London, Friday, 17 December 2021

US markets extended Thursday’s loses as investors assessing the impact of the Omicron variant, while European markets closed lower with the EU inflation hitting 5.2% in November.

U.S. Stock Market Indexes

• S&P 500: -48.12 points (-1.03%) to 4,620.55

• Nasdaq: -10.75 points (-0.07%) to 15,169.68

• Dow Jones: -531.08 points (-1.48%) to 35,366.56

European Stock Market Indexes

• STOXX Europe 600: -2.66 points, or 0.56%, to 473.90

• FTSE 100 in London: +9 points, or 0.13%, to end the day at 7,269

• DAX 30 in Germany: -104 points, or 0.67%, to close at 15,531

• CAC 40 in France: -78 points, or 1.12%, to 6,926

• FTSE MIB 30 in Italy: -171 points, or 0.64%, to end the day at 26,611

• IBEX 35 in Spain: -68 points, or 0.82%, to finish at 8,311

Other markets

• Ten-year U.S. Treasury note: -1.3 bps to yield 1.409%

• Dollar index: +0.63 or 0.66% to 96.67 as of Dec 17, 2021 4:59 p.m. EST

• VIX volatility index: +1.00 (4.86%) to 21.57 as of Dec 17, 3:15 PM CST

Oil prices

• Brent crude: -0.56 or -0.76% at $72.96 per barrel as of Dec 17, 2021 10:08 p.m. GMT

• West Texas Intermediate: -2.09 or -2.89% at $70.29 per barrel as of Dec 17, 2021 4:59 p.m. EST

Precious metals

• Gold: -0.53 or -0.03% at $1,798.18 per ounce

• Silver: -0.10 or -0.45% at $22.36 per ounce

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin: −1,720.60 (3.61%) at $45,913.60 as of Dec 17, 10:19 PM UTC

• Etherum: −113.14 (2.86%) at $3,844.41 as of Dec 17, 10:19 PM UTC

(Written and edited by: The Decision Maker)