Market summary today: China's decisions drag down U.S. stocks while boosting gold and oil.

China caused significant fluctuations in global financial markets on Monday after a series of decisions and commitments made by Chinese authorities this morning, as markets prepare for U.S. inflation data to be released this week, along with monetary policy decisions from central banks in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the Eurozone.

This morning, the executive authorities in Beijing announced new commitments to adopt the most expansionary monetary policy in 14 years to support domestic demand and consumption, as well as pledging financial expansions and support for the real estate and Chinese stock sectors.

At the same time, official data released by the People's Bank of China revealed that the central bank has resumed purchasing gold to bolster its reserves of the yellow metal during November, after a six-month hiatus during which the world's largest gold buyer halted its purchases.

This came as Chinese regulatory authorities announced the initiation of an investigation into leading American semiconductor maker Nvidia for allegedly violating antitrust laws in China, following a similar decision by French authorities months earlier.

Stock Market

American Stocks

Major U.S. stock indices witnessed collective declines, led by losses in American technology company Nvidia, which caused the Nasdaq index to be the worst-performing major U.S. index, as China’s State Administration for Market Regulation investigates Nvidia for suspected antitrust violations.

In trading, the volatility index VIX rose by 8.38% to register 13.83 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.23% to 44,538.66 points, the Standard & Poor's S&P 500 decreased by 0.47% to 6,061.76 points, and the Nasdaq dropped by 0.56% to 19,758.84 points, with Nvidia shares falling by 2.57%, making it one of the worst-performing stocks on both the Nasdaq and Dow Jones indices.

Shares of ADM Advanced Micro also fell by 5.35%, ranking among the worst-performing stocks on the Nasdaq, alongside shares of animated company Marvell Technology, which dropped by about 6%. On the other hand, shares of Chinese companies listed on Wall Street performed well, with Alibaba shares rising by 9% and shares of Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO increasing by approximately 12.8%.

Among the most active individual stocks today were shares of chocolate maker Hershey, which rose by about 13.5% today after reports indicated that Mondelez International, the owner of Cadbury, is considering acquiring it, a deal that would create total sales of about $50 billion for Hershey, making its stock the best performer on the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

European Stocks

European stock indices closed today on mixed notes with losses for Italian, German, and Spanish indices. However, the main European stock index, Stoxx 600, rose by 0.14% at closing, stabilizing at its highest level in 6 weeks at 521.22 points. The British FTSE 100 rose by 0.52% to 8,352.08 points, and the French CAC 40 increased by 0.72% to 7,480.14 points.

This occurred while the German DAX index fell by 0.19% to close at 20,345.96 points, and the Italian FTSE MIB decreased by 0.55% to 34,559.38 points, while the Spanish IBEX dropped by 0.50%, closing at 12,011.50 points.

Asian Stocks

Chinese stock indices rebounded today following the stimulative commitments made by the Chinese political office, with the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rising by 2.76% to close at 20,414.09 points. This follows gains in Japanese stocks, where the Nikkei 225 rose by 0.18% to 39,160.50 points, while the broader Topix index increased by about 0.27% to end trading in Tokyo at 2,734.56 points.

Bond Market

U.S. Treasury yields rose today as investors await the release of U.S. inflation data and its potential impact on expectations for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve during its meeting next week, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note increasing by 4.2 basis points to 4.20%.

The CME's FedWatch tool now indicates an 85% chance of a 25 basis point interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s meeting on December 17th and 18th, up from 68% before the better-than-expected jobs data released last Friday, with markets anticipating three more interest rate cuts next year.

Forex Market

The dollar index DXY - which measures the performance of the U.S. dollar against a basket of 6 other major currencies - rose by 0.17% to 106.152 points, with the euro falling against the dollar by 0.12% to 1.0553 dollars, and the dollar rising against the Japanese yen by 0.85% to 151.34 yen, marking the highest level in 10 days.

Commodity Market

Gold

Gold received significant support today from Chinese data showing the return of the world’s largest gold buyer who resumed purchases to support the country's reserves after the central bank had halted gold buying over the past six months, providing some support to gold which also received backing from recent escalations in geopolitical tensions in the Middle East following the collapse of the Syrian regime and the Israeli occupation forces exploiting the situation to announce the seizure of a new part of Syrian territory.

The price of spot gold contracts rose by 1.18% to record $2,659.55 per ounce, after touching its highest level in two weeks early in the session at $2,676.44 per ounce, while December gold futures prices increased by 0.81% to $2,681.20 per ounce.

Oil

The commitments made by the Chinese administration boosted confidence in the recovery of oil demand from the world’s largest crude importer, leading to a significant rise in oil prices. Brent crude futures rose by 1.56% to $72.92 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate crude rose by 1.89% to $68.15.

Crypto Market

The cryptocurrency market declined today, with Bitcoin dropping amidst profit-taking. Bitcoin fell by 4.54% to $96,669, and Ethereum decreased by 5.79% to $3,777.7.