Stock markets, Europe cautious after Fed minutes. Milan closed on the last day of the year

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(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – European stock markets move with caution in the last session of the year, which sees Paris (CAC 40), Amsterdam (AEX), Madrid (IBEX 35) and London (FT-SE 100) open for half a day. However, the other continental stock exchanges are closed, including that of Milan. The indices, in a context of rarefied trading due to the looming New Year, thus reduce the double-digit gains achieved in the last twelve months, while investors look for minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting indications on the next monetary policy moves of the American central bank. The minutes of the December 9-10 meeting revealed a divided Fed: if in fact the Federal Open Market Committee approved a rate cut of 25 basis points, during the meeting many bankers were also willing to support the decision to keep them unchanged. For most committee members, however, further cuts are desirable if inflation falls as expected.

Euro at 1.17, oil down. You make on silver

The euro remains above 1.17. On the raw materials front, oil drops. Silver fell 5%, while gold rose slightly. Overall, precious metals realizations kicked in and had a banner year, with gold and silver both set to post their best annual jumps since 1979.

Asia moved little, the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed

Trading was relatively quiet as several markets are already closed for the year, including Japan and South Korea. In China, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.9% to 25,630.54, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 3,969.75. Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 0.9% to 28,963.60.