Investing.com - Global stock markets struggled for direction in low-volume trade on Thursday, with much of the Western world already shuttered for the Christmas and year-end holidays.
Asia stocks were mixed on Thursday, with shares in China leading losses, knocking the region's Christmas cheer before the holiday period.
Meanwhile, European stocks mostly edged lower at the start of Thursday’s holiday-shortened session, but still looked set to score gains for the week.
Trading in the U.K. is slated to stop at 12:30PM London time, or 7:30AM ET, while markets in France are set to close at 2:00PM CET, or 8:00AM ET. Germany’s DAX and some other European markets are shuttered for the whole day. European stock markets will remain closed for Christmas on Friday.
Elsewhere, U.S. stock futures were little changed, suggesting a flat open on Wall Street later in the day. U.S. markets close at 1:00PM ET Thursday, Christmas Eve, and are shut Friday for Christmas Day.
The U.S. is to release a weekly report on initial jobless claims at 8:30AM ET Thursday, amid expectations for a decline of 1,000 to 270,000.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.4% at 97.99 during European morning hours.
The index, which has fallen back to levels seen before the Federal Reserve raised interest rates on December 17, remains well off last week's two-week high of 99.33.
The dollar slid against the euro, with EUR/USD gaining 0.5% to 1.0965. Against the yen, the greenback dipped 0.55% to 120.28 (USD/JPY).
The greenback weakened followed the release of mixed U.S. economic data on Wednesday. Orders for U.S. core capital goods, a key barometer of private-sector business investment, declined 0.4% last month, while shipments of core capital goods, a category used to calculate quarterly economic growth, slumped 0.5%.
However, separate reports showed that personal spending rose for the eighth straight month in November, while consumer sentiment improved to a five-month high in December.
With the first U.S. rate hike since 2006 out of the way, the focus is now on the pace of future rate increases. The Fed, from its forecasts, is anticipating four rate hikes next year. However, the Fed funds futures currently suggests there will be just two rate increases, in June and December.
Oil prices remain in focus for investors, as prices edged higher, building on Wednesday’s sizable gains, in what is expected to be thin volume ahead of the Christmas break.
Meanwhile, gold prices drifted higher in in quiet pre-holiday trade on Thursday, after languishing for two straight sessions. The precious metal is on track to post an annual decline of 10% in 2015, the third yearly loss in a row, as speculation over the timing of a Fed rate hike dominated market sentiment for most of the year.