Tokyo Consumer Prices Rose at Fastest Pace since 1982

US stock markets were closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and will also close early on tonight. On the last trading day before the Thanksgiving break, the Dow gained 0.28% to close at 34,194. The S&P 500 rose 0.59% to 4,027, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.99% to settle at 11,285. U.S. initial jobless claims came in higher than expected for the week ending November 19.

Tesla (TSLA) shares gained 7.8% on Wednesday after Citigroup upgraded the EV maker stock from Sell to Neutral.

Commoditywise, prices of oil futures rebounded this European afternoon as attention remained on the ongoing discussions about effectiveness and feasibility of imposing a price cap on Russian oil. The Kremlin reiterated that such a measure would seriously affect the global market as it does not intend to sell oil to countries that introduce the price restrictions. In addition, supply fears could have been intensified by a drop in inventories in the United States and sporadic disruptions to oil flow in Europe.

Major European stocks stood slightly in the green territory during the last session of the week, with investors waiting for more signals about the size of the ECB's rate hike next month. Germany’s adjusted GDP increased 0.4% in Q3 2022 compared to the previous three-month period, according to the country's statistical office Destatis.

At the time of writing, the French CAC 40 traded unchanged, while the British FTSE 100 gained 0.17% but the German DAX lost 0.15%. On Fx front, the euro stood flat against the dollar concurrently to hover above $1.0372, while the Pound Sterling slipped 0.10% but remained just over the $1.207 level.

Markets in Asia-Pacific were mostly lower earlier today as investors digested the inflation report from Tokyo which showed consumer prices in the Japanese capital soared at the fastest pace since 1982. The sentiment was also dampened by another surge in COVID-19 cases in China as the country reported a record 32,943 daily registered cases of the disease. The Japanese Nikkei 225 declined 0.35% at the close. In South Korea, the Kospi lost 0.14% concurrently and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.49%. In mainland China, the Shenzhen Composite declined by 0.48%, but the Shanghai Composite rose 0.40% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.24% higher.