Stock Market Today: Global Indexes Mixed as US Market Remains Closed

By Associated Press

Published 3 months ago on

January 9, 2025

Global markets show mixed performance as US stock market observes National Day of Mourning for Jimmy Carter. (AP/Eugene Hoshiko)

European stocks show modest gains while Asian markets face declines amid trade friction concerns.
Investors navigate Trump's presidency, balancing tax cut enthusiasm with tariff and geopolitical worries.
US jobs report anticipated, with hopes for economic strength without hindering Fed's interest rate cuts.

BANGKOK — World shares were mixed on Thursday as the U.S. stock market remained closed to observe a National Day of Mourning for former President Jimmy Carter.

European stocks were modestly higher, with Germany’s DAX inching up 0.1% to 20,342.60 and France’s CAC 40 adding 0.6% to 7,500.22. Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.8% to 8,319.89.

Asian markets mostly declined as caution revived over a likely deepening of trade friction once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Asian Markets Face Declines

Shares fell in Tokyo after Japan reported strong wage growth for November, data that might help persuade its central bank to raise interest rates. The Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.9% to 39,605.09, while the dollar slipped against the Japanese yen. A dollar bought 158.08 yen, down from 158.36 late Wednesday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 0.2% lower, to 19,240.89, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.6% to 3,211.39. The government reported that the consumer price index rose 0.1% in December from a year earlier, while wholesale or producer prices dropped 2.3%, signaling that demand remains slack in the world’s second-largest economy.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.2% to 8,329.20.

South Korea’s Kospi edged less than 0.1% higher, to 2,521.90 despite strong gains for technology companies and automakers.

Taiwan’s Taiex sank 1.4% and the Sensex in India was down 0.7%. In Bangkok, the SET slipped 1.8%.

Investor Concerns Over Trump’s Policies

“Investors continue to navigate the unpredictable ‘what if’ trading landscape molded by Trump’s presidency — where the initial enthusiasm for tax cuts is now overshadowed by mounting concerns over proposed tariffs and bizarre geopolitical aspirations, like purchasing Greenland or exerting more control over the Panama Canal,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

In the United States, trading of bonds is continuing until a recommended closure at 2 p.m. Eastern time. Yields eased a bit more following a strong recent run that has rattled the stock market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.65% after topping 4.70% the day before, when it neared its highest level since April.

Higher yields hurt stocks by making it more expensive for companies and households to borrow and by pulling some investors toward bonds and away from stocks. Yields have been climbing as several reports on the U.S. economy have come in better than economists expected. Worries about possible upward pressure on inflation from tariff, tax and other policies that Trump prefers have also pushed yields higher.

Anticipation Builds for US Jobs Report

The next big event for Wall Street will arrive Friday, when the U.S. Labor Department releases the latest monthly tally of how many jobs the nation’s employers created. The hope is that it will show enough strength to keep worries of a recession stifled but not so much that it keeps the Federal Reserve from continuing to cut interest rates.

U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 0.6% to $73.74 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.6% to $76.58 per barrel.