On Tuesday, December 19th, U.S. stock markets ended higher buoyed by the Federal Reserve's recent dovish policy shift and anticipation of key inflation data.

In economic data, November single-family housing starts surged to 1.143 million units, an 18.0% increase from October's revised figure of 969,000 units, marking the highest level since April 2022. 

Additionally, permits for future single-family home construction rose modestly by 0.7% to 976,000 units, the highest rate in one and a half years.

S&P 500's 11 primary sectors closed positively, with energy and communication services seeing the biggest percentage increases.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.68% at 37,557.92, the S&P 500 gained 0.59% to 4,768.37, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.66%, ending the session at 15,003.22.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan's Nikkei 225 closed Wednesday's trading higher by 1.37% at 33,675.94, led by gains in the Manufacturing, Precision Instruments, and Electrical/Machinery sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.65%, ending at 7,537.90, led by gains in the Gold, Telecoms Services and A-REITs sectors.
• China's Shanghai Composite declined 1.03% to 2,902.11, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 was down 1.10%, closing at 3,297.50.
• The People's Bank of China kept its one-year loan prime rate at 3.45% and the five-year mortgage rate at 4.2%, indicating a stable monetary policy stance.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.58%, concluding the day at 16,617.50.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was down 0.06%.
• Germany's DAX declined 0.14%.
• France's CAC declined 0.04%.
• The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.58%.
• U.K. annual consumer price inflation dropped to 3.9% in November from 4.6% in October, the lowest rate since September 2021. The Bank of England kept its main interest rate unchanged.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 1.18% at $74.81/bbl, and Brent was up by 1.07% at $80.08/bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 1.69% to $2.531.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.21% at $2,047.95, Silver fell 0.19% to $24.273, and Copper rose 0.35% to $3.9115.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET            

Dow futures were down 0.09%, S&P 500 futures slid 0.15%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures declined by 0.28%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.12% to 102.29, USD/JPY went down 0.35% to 143.32, and AUD/USD slid 0.05% to 1.4780.