Oil Prices Climb as Middle East Tensions and U.S. Inventory Data Boost Market Sentiment 
China Services PMI Hits Three-Month High as New Orders and Hiring Improve 
Asian Markets Wobble as AI Fears Rattle Stocks, Oil and Gold Rebound 
Gold Prices Rebound Near Key Levels as U.S.-Iran Tensions Boost Safe-Haven Demand 
Dollar Steady as Fed Nomination and Japanese Election Shape Currency Markets 
Gold, Silver, and Platinum Rally as Precious Metals Recover from Sharp Selloff 
Japan Finance Minister Defends PM Takaichi’s Remarks on Weak Yen Benefits 
Asian Currencies Strengthen as Indian Rupee and Australian Dollar Rally 
RBA Raises Interest Rates by 25 Basis Points as Inflation Pressures Persist 
South Korea Inflation Hits Five-Month Low as CPI Reaches Central Bank Target 
U.S. Stock Futures Rise as Investors Eye Big Tech Earnings and AI Momentum 
Japan Services Sector Records Fastest Growth in Nearly a Year as Private Activity Accelerates 
Taiwan Urges Stronger Trade Ties With Fellow Democracies, Rejects Economic Dependence on China 
S&P 500 Rises as AI Stocks and Small Caps Rally on Strong Earnings Outlook 
Australia’s Corporate Regulator Urges Pension Funds to Boost Technology Investment as Industry Grows 
South Korea's industrial output rose 0.7 percent on-month November due to improving exports, but consumption plunged for the second straight month amid a coronavirus resurgence.
However, the industrial output in November was a 0.6 percent on-year drop.
The mining, manufacturing, gas, and electricity industries gained a 0.3 percent production increase on-month in November, while the chips and display panels production also improved.
But retail sales dropped 0.9 percent from a month earlier, compared with a 1 percent on-month decline in October, the data showed. From a year earlier, they fell 1.5 percent, marking the second straight month of an on-year decline.
Sales of semidurable goods, such as clothes, plummeted 6.9 percent, while those of durable goods, such as cars, dipped 0.9 percent.
Meanwhile, sales of nondurable goods and food jumped 1.3 percent on-month.
Statistics Korea said the face-to-face service and retail sales sector may shrink in December due to increasing spiking COVID-19 cases.
On Dec. 8, the country tightened its virus curbs to Level 2.5 in the Seoul metropolitan area, where half of its 51.6 million population lived. It was Level 2 for the rest of the country.
