ROMA – Cautious markets and others reduced trade on the eve of the Christmas holidays. The data showed a markedly expanding US economy in the third quarter of the year. According to what was published yesterday by the Department of Commerce, US GDP grew by 4.3% in the third quarter of 2025, according to the preliminary reading, well above the expected 3.3%. It was the best quarterly GDP growth in two years, but it is unlikely that the Stars and Stripes economy will be able to replicate this trend in the final months of 2025, a period in which the shutdown of federal activities took its toll. The US growth rate is still on track to exceed 2% for the full year. Copper is running at record levels in the wake of the strong economic growth reported by the US GDP in the third quarter which fuels the metal’s demand prospects in a context of limited supply.
Wall Street opens weak and mixed
Wall Street opens weak. The Dow Jones loses 0.07% to 48,421.68 points, the Nasdaq loses 0.11% to 23,533.16 points while the S&P 500 is unchanged at 6,910.04 points.
European stock exchanges, sluggish closing
European stock markets closed a session with reduced ranks weak on Christmas Eve, in which Milan and Frankfurt remained stagnant. The Cac 40 index in Paris The Cac 40 index in Paris ends trading at parity at 8,103.58 points (-0.27 points), ahead of the usual closing time, for the Christmas break, and will only resume activity on Monday. Luxury stocks outperformed, with LVMH, Hermes and L’Oreal rising. Airbus and Unilever end trading lower. The Spanish Ibex ends the session with -0.06%, at 17,172.9 points. While London’s FTSE 100 recorded a -0.2% at 9,865.86 points. BP lost 0.3% after announcing the sale of a 65% stake in its subsidiary Castrol, specialized in engine lubricants, to the US investment fund Stonepeak.
Nike: rises in the pre market after Tim Cook buys shares
Nike rises in the premarket after a regulatory filing revealed that Apple CEO Tim Cook bought about $2.95 million worth of shares of the sportswear giant on Dec. 22. The disclosure caught the attention of investors given Cook’s high-profile role and his long-standing ties to the sportswear company’s board of directors. Nike shares gained 2.3% before the opening on Wall Street which will end its session mid-day today for the Christmas break.
Copper: hits new records in London and Shanghai
Copper is running at record levels in the wake of the strong economic growth reported by US GDP in the third quarter which fuels the metal’s demand prospects in a context of limited supply. After the historic high of 12,282 Dollars per ton reached in London in the last few hours, metal contracts reached a new peak of 96,510 Yuan also in trading in Shanghai.
Duties: USA, 18-month truce then tariffs on Chinese semiconductors
The US government believes the practices of the Chinese semiconductor industry are unfair, but has chosen to wait 18 months before imposing additional tariffs. “Retaliatory action” against Beijing’s “uncompetitive” practices is “appropriate,” the White House Trade Representative (USTR) wrote in a document. Ustr says it wants to “increase” duties “in 18 months, on June 23, 2027”
BP: sells control of Castrol to USA Stonepeak fund for 6 billion
The British oil giant BP has announced the sale of 65% of the shares of its subsidiary Castrol, specialized in the production of engine lubricants, to the US investment fund Stonepeak, an operation whose net proceeds are estimated at 6 billion dollars.
Bags moved little
There was little movement on the few European stock markets open in the Christmas Eve session following the new record of the S&P 500 on Wall Street in the wake of the better-than-expected data on American GDP for the third quarter.
European stock markets: cautious start, Milan and Frankfurt firm
Cautious and weak start for European stock markets, with reduced trading on the eve of the Christmas holidays, with London and Paris open for half the session while Milan, Frankfurt and Madrid are at a standstill. In early trading the Ftse 100 index was flat at 9,889.75 points and the Cac40 in Paris rose by 0.12% to 8,113.59 points.
“The year is almost over and traders are already partly on holiday. Investors have largely restructured their portfolios and many have closed positions to focus on other things. Trading volumes are low, around 30-35% below last month’s average,” noted Ipek Ozkardeskaya, analyst at Swissquote Bank. However, he added, “if history teaches us anything, the famous ‘Christmas rally’, which includes the last five trading sessions of the year and the first two of the new year, could generate additional gains of around 1.5%” for global stocks.
Gas starts with a slight decline at 27.6 euros per megawatt hour
Gas prices slightly down on the Amsterdam market, the reference point for Europe: the methane future for delivery in December opened down 0.3% at 27.6 euros per Megawatt hour.
Asia flat after positive Wall Street, China doing well
Asian and Pacific stock markets without a precise direction after the positive session on Wall Street with the record for the S&P index.
In fact, the Tokyo stock market closed down by 0.1%, with Seoul down by 0.2% and Sydney by 0.3%.
Hong Kong ultimately rose by 0.1%, with Chinese stock markets clearly positive: Shanghai +0.5%, Shenzhen up by one percentage point.
Stock market: Tokyo, closing slightly lower
The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended the session with a slight decline, in a context of reduced trading and despite the consolidation of the Nasdaq – with US technology once again on the shields. The Nikkei reference index recorded a slightly negative change of 0.14% at 50,344.10, with a loss of 68 points. On the currency front, the yen returns to recover ground on the dollar, at 155.60, on indications of further monetary tightening by the Bank of Japan (Boj), and on the euro, at 183.80
Oil: slightly up in Asia, at two-week highs
Oil prices rose slightly on Asian markets to the highest levels of the last two weeks, supported by growing geopolitical tensions. WTI futures change hands at 58.47 dollars a barrel (+0.16%), those on Brent at 66.45 dollars (+0.11%).
Gold: reaches new all-time high, close to 4,500 dlr per ounce
New historical record for gold prices during Asian trading. The price of the precious metal surpassed $4,500 thanks to optimism about the continuation of the Federal Reserve’s policy of cutting interest rates next year and growing tensions between the United States and Venezuela.
