At the start of the US trading session, markets were uncertain about the direction ahead, but sentiment turned bullish as the day progressed. All major US indices are in the green. The driver of growth is the Nasdaq100, whose contracts add more than 0.7%. The Russell index is also doing well. The S&P 500 and Dow are also up, but their gains are limited to around 0.4%. Investors received a number of important macroeconomic data from the US economy today. 50,000 jobs were added, below expectations and previous data. The unemployment rate fell from 4.5% to 4.4%. The market was waiting for the Supreme Court's decision on Donald Trump's tariff policy, but the verdict was postponed. The topic thus continues to be a factor of uncertainty. The University of Michigan's index of consumer confidence and inflation expectations paints a picture of a relatively strong economy. All indicators of consumer sentiment exceeded expectations, but at the cost of increased inflation expectations. Intel shares are up about 10% today thanks to Donald Trump's positive comments about the company and its CEO. Meta has announced that it will power its data centers with nuclear reactors from Oklo and Vistra. Shares of both companies strengthen by almost 10%. General Motors reported a $6 billion loss due to changes in US electric car policy. The company's shares are down around 3% today. There is also a good mood among European investors. Most stock markets in the old continent ended the day in the red. The largest growth is recorded by the Dutch AEX index, whose contracts grow by almost 2%. Germany's DAX, France's CAC40 and Poland's WIG20 are also up by more than 1%. The Spanish economy is showing very strong numbers – industrial production rose by 4.5% in November. In Germany, seasonally adjusted, there was growth of 0.8%. ASML has won the confidence of analysts at HSBC, and its shares are adding more than 3% after the investment bank raised its price target on the stock. The Japanese yen had a negative day, falling 0.6% against the dollar to its weakest level since 2024. Meanwhile, the US dollar is seeing a slight but across-the-board strengthening. Investors should carefully monitor the BoJ's communications. In the commodity market, cocoa prices fell sharply, with contracts shedding as much as 11% after heavy rains in West Africa raised expectations of record harvests. The price of oil is slightly correcting previous losses, with the market growing skepticism about expanding production in Venezuela due to US involvement. Protests in Iran and the escalation of the conflict in Yemen are raising concerns about the security of supplies. The US weather forecast points to significant warming, leading to a more than 6% drop in natural gas (NATGAS) contracts. In the industrial metals market, we are recording significant gains – zinc is growing the most, by 4%. Copper and aluminum strengthen by approximately 2%. Volatility is low in the precious metals market, with the exception of silver, which is trying to recover from recent losses and is up more than 3%. There is a mixed mood in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin is down 0.4% but still holding above the $90,000 mark. Ethereum is weakening by more than 0.7% to hover around the $3,090 level.
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