Stocks, Treasuries steady as holidays approach; dollar up

Bloomberg

Stocks and bonds were steady across much of the world alongside US equity futures with trading muted on Christmas Eve. Treasuries nudged higher with the dollar.
Shares fluctuated in London and Paris, while they edged lower in Madrid. Markets in Germany and other parts of Europe were closed. Equities ended little changed in Tokyo and Sydney on thin volume, while they dipped in Hong Kong and Seoul. Shares rose in Shanghai, recovering some of Monday’s slide that was provoked by a sell-off in tech
companies.
Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were steady after it paced other indexes on Wall Street as Boeing Co. climbed on announcing a change of leadership. West Texas oil remained above $60 a barrel.
With markets calmer in the holiday week, many asset classes are holding gains they’ve made in a remarkable 2019. The $45 trillion MSCI World Index was steady, up 25% on its way towards the best gain since 2009. Futures edged up on the S&P 500 index after it closed higher for the eighth day in nine sessions. And gold advanced, set for its best performance since 2010, as mixed US data Monday kept hopes of interest-rate cuts alive.
Ten-year Treasury yields were steady at around 1.92%, while those on their Japanese counterparts hovered above 0% after spending much of the year in negative territory. Elsewhere, the dollar edged up against its major peers but was heading for a monthly decline. The pound was flat after its worst week in more than two years amid renewed concern over a smooth Brexit.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index gained 0.1% as of 9:36 a.m. London time. The UK’s FTSE 100 Index increased 0.1%. France’s CAC 40 Index was steady. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.1%. The MSCI World Index was little changed.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.1%. The British pound was little changed at $1.293. The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1079. The Japanese yen was little changed at 109.40 per dollar.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 1.92%. Germany’s 10-year yield gained one basis point to -0.24%.
West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at $60.55 a barrel. Gold increased 0.4% to $1,491.44 an ounce. Silver rose 0.8% to $17.60 per ounce. LME aluminum gained 0.6% to $1,814 per metric ton.