Global Stock Markets See Mixed Results; Gold Prices Drop Amid Stronger Dollar and Anticipation of U.S. Economic Data - APM Capital Market Report - Mark Pussard, Head of Risk, APM Capital - Middle East News 247
March 17, 2025
NEWS DESK

Global Stock Markets See Mixed Results; Gold Prices Drop Amid Stronger Dollar and Anticipation of U.S. Economic Data – APM Capital Market Report – Mark Pussard, Head of Risk, APM Capital

On Monday global stock markets experienced mixed results, with significant gains in some regions and notable losses in others. Overall, European bourses showed strong performance, while Asian markets experienced mixed outcomes with several indices declining. One of the biggest losers on the day was Irish carrier Ryanair which plummeted 17.15 percent after reporting net quarterly profit after tax for the June quarter was down 46 percent. Mideastern and African markets exhibited positive momentum.

US market

U.S. stocks traded higher on Monday following President Biden’s shock decision on Sunday to suspend his bid for a second term, and to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.

Shares in Trump Media dipped 0.83 cents to $34.70, a loss of 0.83 percent. The market capitalisation of the company, however, remained above $6.5 billion.

Here are the closing quotes for the major U.S. indices on Monday:

S&P 500: The S&P 500 index closed at 5,564.41, marking an increase of 59.41 points or 1.08 percent. Trading volume was robust at 2.437 billion shares.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session at 40,415.44, up 127.91 points or 0.32 percent. The trading volume for the Dow was 343.346 million shares.

NASDAQ Composite: The NASDAQ Composite showed a strong performance, closing at 18,007.57 Monday with a significant gain of 280.63 points or 1.58 percent. Trading volume was high, reaching 4.456 billion shares.

European market

EUROPE

Germany stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Technology, Transportation & Logistics and Food & Beverages sectors led shares higher.

DAX PERFORMANCE-INDEX: The German DAX saw a substantial increase Monday, closing at 18,407.07 with a rise of 235.14 points or 1.29 percent.

UNITED KINGDOM

Stock prices in London closed mostly higher Monday, as markets welcomed Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the US presidential election.

Amongst individual stocks, airlines slid after Ryanair’s warning. Rentokil led the FTSE 100 higher, though, after former BT boss eyed a bid to take over the pest control firm.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 43.06 points, 0.5%, at 8,198.78. The FTSE 250 ended up 71.00 points, 0.3%, at 21,138.68, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.89 of a point, 0.1%, at 783.24.

Asian market

Asian markets fell yesterday as Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the US presidential race fuelled fresh uncertainty, while traders appeared unmoved by China’s decision to cut interest rates in a bid to boost its stuttering economy.

Nikkei 225 (^N225): The Nikkei 225 in Japan experienced a decline Monday, closing at 39,599.00, down 464.79 points or 1.16 percent.

HANG SENG INDEX (^HSI): Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose by 218.20 points or 1.25 percent, ending at 17,635.88.

Shenzhen Index (399001.SZ): The Shenzhen Index fell to 8,869.82, a decrease of 33.42 points or 0.38 percent.

The Sensex crashed 738.81 points, or 0.91%, to close at 80,604.65, while the Nifty 50 settled 269.95 points, or 1.09%, lower at 24,530.90.

Commodities

Gold prices fell to a more than one-week low on Monday as the dollar firmed, while traders awaited more U.S. economic data and comments from Federal Reserve officials this week for clarity on the timeline for interest rate cuts.

Spot gold fell 0.5% to $2,387.99 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures shed 0.4% to $2,389.40. 

This after the yellow metal scaled to an all-time high of $2,483.60 per ounce last week on increased chances of U.S. interest rate cuts this year.

Spot silver fell about 1.1% to $28.94 after falling nearly 5% last week. Platinum slipped 1.8% to $945.50, while palladium fell 0.4% to $902.69.

West Texas intermediate (WTI), futures on NYMEX, extended its downside momentum to below $78.00 in Monday’s American session. The Oil price weakened as an unexpected decision by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to cut its benchmark rates has pointed to concerns over the China’s economic outlook. China is the world’s largest Oil importer and an uncertainty over its economic prospects is an unfavourable situation for the Oil price.

Forex

On Monday, the foreign exchange market experienced mixed results across various major currency pairs with the U.S. dollar gaining some ground from the change of Democratic presidential nominee on the weekend. 

EUR/USD: The euro saw a slight increase against the dollar, with the exchange rate edging up to 1.0885, representing a gain of 0.04%.

USD/JPY: The Japanese yen strengthened, with the exchange rate rising to 157.11, an increase of 0.17%.

USD/CAD: The Canadian dollar fell Monday to 1.3753, down by 0.19%.

GBP/USD: The British pound, going against the trend, experienced a modest increase against the U.S. dollar, with the exchange rate advancing to 1.2925, up 0.12%.

USD/CHF: The Swiss franc eased to 0.8895, down by 0.10%.

AUD/USD: The Australian dollar fell significantly against the greenback, with the exchange rate diving to 0.6640, down 0.65%.

NZD/USD: The New Zealand dollar also declined, slipping to 0.5977, a decrease of 0.49%.

EVENTS for Today

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Last Updated on 8 months by News Desk 2

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