Global Stock Markets Weekly Review: Dow Jones Industrial Average Falls for the Seventh Consecutive Trading Day, European Stocks Mixed, and Asia-Pacific Stock Markets See Varied Performances

According to Zhitong Finance, on Friday, the three major indices had mixed results, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling for the seventh consecutive trading day

Major U.S. stock indexes had mixed results on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing lower for the seventh trading day in a row, marking its longest losing streak since April. The Dow fell a total of 1.82% this week, while the S&P 500 index dropped 0.64%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.34%.

At the close, the Dow fell 86.06 points, or 0.20%, to 43,828.06 points; the Nasdaq rose 23.88 points, or 0.12%, to 19,926.72 points; and the S&P 500 index fell 0.16 points to 6,051.09 points.

Among individual stocks, Tesla (TSLA.US) rose 4.34%, and NVIDIA (NVDA.US) fell 2.25%. Broadcom (AVGO.U.S.) rose 24.43%, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.US) fell 2.83%.

The German DAX 30 index rose 2.04 points, or 0.01%, to close at 20,430.95 points; the British FTSE 100 index fell 12.11 points, or 0.15%, to close at 8,299.65 points; the French CAC 40 index fell 11.37 points, or 0.15%, to close at 7,409.57 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 1.92 points, or 0.04%, to close at 4,967.45 points; the Spanish IBEX 35 index fell 12.13 points, or 0.10%, to close at 11,752.67 points; and the Italian FTSE MIB index rose 32.63 points, or 0.09%, to close at 34,890.00 points.

In the Asia-Pacific stock markets, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.95%, the Jakarta Composite Index in Indonesia fell 0.94%, and the KOSPI index in South Korea rose 0.5%.

Bitcoin rose more than 1.4% to trade at $101,448 per coin.

Spot gold fell below $2,660 per ounce, down 0.77% for the day.

Brent crude oil futures for February delivery on the Intercontinental Exchange rose by $1.08, or 1.47%, to close at $74.49 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $1.27, or 1.81%, to close at $71.29 per barrel, reaching a new high since November 7. WTI crude oil has risen over 6.08% this week.

Analysts pointed out that on one hand, Iran and Russia may face additional sanctions leading to tight oil supplies. On the other hand, there is also a possibility of oversupply in the international oil market.

The dollar rose nearly 1% this week, the yen fell towards 154, down over 2% for the week, and the offshore yuan briefly fell below 7.29 yuan.

U.S. Import Prices Rise for Second Consecutive Month Due to Rising Fuel Costs

U.S. import prices unexpectedly rose in November for the second month in a row, driven by geopolitical tensions pushing up fuel prices. The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Friday that import prices rose 0.1% month-on-month in November, unchanged from the previous month, while economists had expected a decrease of 0.2%.

The Department of Labor stated that the main reason for the rise in import prices last month was the increase in fuel prices. Due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, import oil prices rose 0.4% in November, after a cumulative decline of 12% from July to October Data shows that non-oil prices rose by 0.2%.

U.S. polls show half of Americans lack confidence in Trump's ability to nominate qualified cabinet members

A recent poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed that half of Americans lack confidence in President-elect Trump's ability to nominate qualified individuals for new cabinet or key executive positions. The survey results indicated that 55% of American respondents have "some confidence" or "no confidence at all" in Trump's