Festive atmosphere continues in global markets

By Murat Aslan

ISTANBUL (AA) – Trading volume is expected to remain low during the week due to the Christmas holiday, and possible price fluctuations may be in wider ranges because of shallow market conditions, analysts reported.

While there were no transactions on many stock exchanges on Monday, trading will continue on some, particularly the New York Stock Exchange, on Tuesday.

The probability that the Fed may cut interest rates in March, with policies the bank will follow next year is 85%, while the data to be announced during the week may change this prediction, analysts said.

Noting that bond demand came to the fore as inflationary concerns waned, analysts stated that declining bond yields reduced the alternative cost of gold and raised the demand for gold.

In light of these developments, the US 10-year bond yield is parallel to last year’s closing level of 3.88% in the last week of the year, after hitting a 16-year peak of 5.02% during the year.

The ounce price of gold, which finished last week at $2,053, is currently trading at $2,062.

Index futures contracts on the New York Stock Exchange are moving in a limited upward trend on Tuesday.

The European stock markets will be closed on Tuesday, as they were on Monday.

While Asian equity markets were mixed on Tuesday, liquidity in the markets was at very low levels, analysts reported.

Near the close, the Nikkei 225 Index in Japan went up by 0.1% and the KOSPI Index in South Korea by 0.2%, while the Shanghai Composite Index in China went down by 0.4%.

In Türkiye, Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index closed Monday at 7,264.87 points, dropping 3.87%, having followed a sales-weighted course.

The US Dollar/Turkish Lira exchange rate was at 29.3070 on Tuesday, after closing the day at 29.1550, 0.3% below its previous close on Monday.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim