Trading is expected to remain relatively light today as investors are on holiday mode. In the U.S., focus will be on the consumer confidence data set for later today. Elsewhere, Bitcoin is continuing to recover from last week’s selloff and is trading near 16K level. Here are the top things to know for today’s trading in global financial markets.
1. Commodities set to jump in 2018
In what has been an excellent year for stocks and cryptocurrencies, traditional commodities have been less successful in 2017 and may be set for their own rally in the coming year.
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Total Return Index, which tracks 24 raw materials, is hovering near a record low valuation when compared to the S&P 500 stock index.
Hackett Financial Advisors pointed out that this valuation metric may be the sign for an impending bull market. “We now have the exact opposite condition where commodities are screaming to be bought at the expense of stocks,” Shawn Hackett said, according to a Bloomberg news report.
In what could be a confirmation of this opinion, the recommendation hit the wires just as copper reached a three-year high in overnight trading.
The world’s largest producer, Chile’s Codelco, has forecast that prices may test record highs above $10,000, while UBS Group AG’s wealth management unit on Wednesday predicted further gains.
2. Stocks on holiday trade
Wall Street looked set for another day of subdued trading between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays with many market participants waiting for 2018 to bother to return to their desks.
European equities reopened their doors on Wednesday with a similar lack of enthusiasm as tech stocks faced pressure, returning to trade after news of weak demand for Apple’s iPhone X.
Earlier, Asian shares closed with mixed signs. Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged forward around 0.1%, while China’s Shanghai Composite declined 0.9%.
3. Focus on U.S. consumer confidence
The main focus ahead on the economic calendar will be the Conference Board’s consumer confidence for December, released at 15:00 GMT, Wednesday. The data is expected to slip slightly from November’s reading but still remain close to a 17-year high.
Traders will also keep an eye on November pending home sales out at the same time. Consensus is looking for 0.4% decline with a lack of supply at high prices expected to be the major obstacle for would-be home buyers.
Ahead of the releases, the dollar was moving lower against other major currencies on Wednesday. At 11:05 GMT, the U.S. dollar index lost 0.25% at 92.61.
4. Bitcoin struggling near $16,000
Bitcoin recovered for a third consecutive session after last week’s plunge, but struggled to hold above the $16,000 mark on Wednesday.
After nearly a 50% decline last week, the largest alternative currency by market cap had recovered about half those losses at the time of writing on Wednesday.
Though bitcoin had managed to top the $16,000 mark on both Tuesday and Wednesday, the digital currency struggled to maintain the psychological level.
On the Bitfinex exchange, Bitcoin was last trading up $629.00 or 4.18%, to $15,672 by 11:07 GMT.
