While German stock markets were still closed on the second Christmas holiday, trading had already resumed in the US, albeit without a clear direction and with very low volumes.
The Dow closed at 43,326 points, just 0.1% higher, the Nasdaq-100 fell by 0.1% to 21,768 points, and the broader S&P 500 closed at 6,038 points, almost unchanged, just 0.041% lower than before Christmas.
After the major stock indices had surged one more time before the holiday, with the S&P 500 even recording its best performance in 50 years on Christmas Eve with a 1.1% gain, investors took a more subdued approach on Thursday, with no new input on the ongoing rate-setting debate. The question of whether and to what extent the Fed might lower interest rates in the coming months had dominated the markets lately.
The dollar was slightly less in demand on Thursday evening, with one euro costing 1.0419 US dollars, and one dollar being worth 0.9598 euros, a change of 0.1%.
Apparently, some investors were rethinking their investment in gold over the Christmas holidays, as the price of one ounce of fine gold increased by 0.6% to 2,634 US dollars, equivalent to 81.28 euros per gram.
And the oil price fell: a barrel of North Sea Brent cost 73.15 US dollars at around 22:00 German time on Thursday evening, a decrease of 43 cents or 0.6% from the previous day’s close.
In contrast to the German stock markets, which will only be open on December 27 and 30, and then only briefly, the US markets will continue to trade on all remaining days, including December 31, at regular hours.