08:45am   This is my last ‘Market Update’ for 2017 as I start my Christmas holiday. Although I will not be back trading until Wednesday 3rd January I will still be sending out my daily ‘Trading-Guidance’ tomorrow and also a few times next week.

Market Update:

Global trading volumes across all markets are lower than normal and although there’s not a great deal of bad news around at the moment, equity markets are consolidating as traders adjust positions and book profits as the end of the year approaches. U.S. equity indices closed down last night after a choppy session where technology and utility stocks fell but energy companies gained by the close.  There has been a big run-up in the past few weeks so there is a lot of consolidation and profit taking at the moment so we may well have seen highs reached this week already.

The overnight Asian trading session was also bearish on the whole with the South Korean Kospi Index falling 1.1% on tech stock declines although Chinese indices were a bright spot in a negative session, the Hang Seng index rose 0.5% as the official Chinese news agency said that the government will continue its structural reform in 2018.  Gold was up yesterday during a positive session that saw the price reach its 200-day moving average ($1268:00) but it has staged a bearish reversal this morning and is currently trading at $1265:30.

Oil prices experienced a positive trading session yesterday as lower U.S. stocks were announced although a rise in production is going to affect values towards the end of this week.  UK Brent Crude is sitting at $64:23 this morning but could reverse down to its 20-day moving average at $63:00.