Good morning, and welcome to the ABC’s finance blog! I’ll be guiding you through the latest business news on this shorter Christmas Eve trading session.
The Australian dollar is trading at 67 US cents, after jumping 1% overnight. That’s the highest level for the local currency since October 2024.
It looks like the Australian share market will not be feeling the festive cheer this morning.
Futures trading points to a 0.2% drop for the ASX 200 when trading begins in a few hours.
That’s despite an upbeat day on Wall Street, which has risen for its fourth straight day.
At this rate, the S&P 500 is likely to close at a record high — if the benchmark index is able to hold onto its gains in the final trading hour.
America’s technology giants are experiencing big increases to their share price, including Nvidia (+2.8%), Google’s parent company Alphabet (+1.5%), Amazon (+1.5%) and Broadcom (+2.2%).
New highs for gold, silver and platinumÂ
It was also a strong day for gold, silver and platinum as the price of these metals surged to their highest levels ever.
Spot silver rose 3% to $US71.06 per ounce, after touching a record high of $US71.08 earlier. Prices are up 145% in the year-to-date (i.e., they’ve more than doubled).
The price of spot gold increased by about 1%, climbing as high as $US4,497.55 (a record).
Bullion has surged about 70% this year, driven by geopolitical tensions, US interest rate cuts, strong central bank buying and robust investment demand.
Spot platinum was 6.4% higher at $US2,255, after scaling a record high of $US2,262.74 per ounce earlier in the US trading session.
It’s a metal used in automotive catalytic converters to help reduce harmful emissions.
I’ll have more updates for you soon. In the meantime, grab a coffee, tea, or whatever you fancy in the mornings!
– with Reuters