The leading indexes of Asia's stock markets are recording the first index decline in eight days this morning. Australia's stock market recorded a descent of 0.6%, Tokyo's Nikkei dropped 0.25%, the Chinese Shanghai exchange dropped 0.35%, the Korean KRX dropped 0.2%, while the Hang Seng recorded a light 0.1% rise.
In the macroeconomic sector, the American Department of Commerce has reported yesterday that factory orders in the United States had risen in an unexpected manner in November, at the sharpest rate in the last eight month. The Department pointed out that this is another sign of the economic recovery in the United States. The protocol of the last Federal Reserve meeting published yesterday confirms that despite the recovery, the economy is still weak and requires monetary support.
Commodity prices took a sharp dive yesterday, with crude oil dropping 2.4% to as two-week low, below the level of 90 United States dollars per barrel of oil, while the price of gold dropped by 3.1% to 1,378 United States dollars per ounce of gold – the sharpest decline in the two months, this due to signs of economic recovery in the United States reducing the demand for commodities.