Market Update: Dow Jones Ended In Red On Friday. A Brief Look

It would not be wrong to say that the markets have been hindering the sentiments of the investors and that the markets are being impacted by several factors. The movement in the markets in the upcoming week is expected to be sensitive to global concerns. Even though the rate hike by the Federal Reserve was anticipated by the market players, it can be assumed that the Federal Reserve’s comments about the outlook for the future rate increases substantially impacted the markets. There are expectations that the Federal Reserve would increase the interest rates two times in 2019 while earlier there were expectations that the Fed would opt for the three rate increases. However, it seems like the investors were of the view that the Fed would raise the rates at a pace slower than this.

The increase in the interest rates in the recent meeting was witnessed even though the US President Donald Trump was opposing this move. A rise in the interest rates negatively impact the stock markets. On December 21, 2018, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session at 22,445.37 which implies the fall of 414.23 points or 1.81%.

What Could Impact the Oil Price Moving Forward?

While the stock markets are witnessing the negative momentum, the oil prices are not an exception. As the market players might know, a downturn in the stock markets also impacts the oil prices because with a fall in the financial markets, the worries about the global economic slowdown increases. Thus, a global slowdown might lead to lesser demand of oil. There are still concerns related to the global slowdown and downturn in the financial markets which could impact the oil prices in the week ahead. It can be assumed that the movement in the oil prices would track the momentum in the stock markets. Therefore, the stock markets witnessed a rise, there could be some stability in the oil prices as well.

However, the news related to the trade wars between the US and China could also affect the oil markets.

Australian Markets Ended on Positive Note

The Australian markets today ended on the positive note. On December 24, 2018, S&P/ASX200 ended the session in green as it settled at 5493.8 which implies the rise of 26.2 points or 0.5%. Let us now have a look at the stocks which have gained. MYOB Group Limited (ASX: MYO) and IOOF Holdings Limited (ASX: IFL) closed the session by rising 14.634% and 7.872%, respectively. On the other hand, Bellamy’s Australia Limited (ASX: BAL) and Wisetech Global Limited (ASX: WTC) ended the session by falling 3.404% and 3.395%, respectively.

Gulf Manganese Corporation Limited (ASX: GMC) has provided an information related to the settlement about the litigation. They have also provided an update related to the investment from the JTS Group. Read the full news here. Also, Medibio Limited (ASX: MEB) made an announcement related to cost management plans as well as it had also announced some changes related to Board. Read the full news here.

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