Morning Update – 12/12/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

Morning all.. Wall St finished higher yet again with the S&P closing up 0.32% and the NASDAQ up over 0.5%. In Asia things were more mixed with the Nikkei closing down 0.32% in a very quiet session. In fact most Asian equities fell as traders await U.S. and European central bank meetings this week for further clues on the 2018 policy outlook. The dollar was steady and oil extended gains above $58 a barrel. Volumes remain lackluster ahead of the year’s final Federal Reserve and European Central Bank meetings. The focus at the conclusion of the Fed’s two-day meeting will be its outlook for next year, with investors debating the impact of coming policy normalization on global asset markets. Outgoing Chair Janet Yellen is expected to signal on Wednesday more interest-rate increases to come in 2018 after raising the Fed’s benchmark by a quarter of a percentage point which is fully priced in. The pound held around its lows of the month as optimism fades over the Brexit deal reached last week. Australia’s 10-year bond yields dropped after reports showed a drop in home prices and retreat in business confidence, eroding bets that interest rates will increase. The yield on 10-year Treasuries held at 2.38 percent. This morning we get CPI data from Sweden and the UK and German ZEW data.. Good luck