7up! - All top seven cryptocurrencies gainAfter a few days in the red, Bitcoin and the top cryptocurrencies return to show familiar gains. BTC is leading the way with over 25%, since trading at $12800. XRP also added over 11% since trading below $1. Ethereum and Dash remain solid, showing 'just' single-digit gains combined with strong support at lower levels.
Bears roam Wall Street - US indices close lowerThe three major US indexes traded lower yesterday, as declining bank and tech stocks cancelled the combined gains of other markets, and pulled the indexes below the opening rates. NSDQ100 shed 0.33%, the SPX500retraced 0.13%, and the SPX500 closed just short of the opening rate - losing 0.05%.
Today's highlights: The Christmas effect
- Shopping time! Retail stocks jump - The Christmas spirit has brought throngs of customers to stores across the world. Seeing that, traders went shopping as well. Macy's (+4.60%), Kohls Corp(+5.98%) and JC Penny (+5.41%) showed the biggest gains. Even Internet stores such as Amazon (+0.71%) and Next (+3.61%) have enjoyed a green holiday.
- A slow day for Apple: The popular tech stock lost over 2.5% in value amid concerns of a class-action lawsuit. The company is being accused of slowing down performance in old iPhones in order to compensate for poor battery life.
- A jolly Christmas for the UK100 - The UK index closed at an all time high of 7585. The climb came in spite of a relatively poor performance from the retail sector, which did not show the same gains as in the US.
- Oil explodes: A pipeline explosion in Libya pushed the black gold to a two-and-a-half year high of $60 a barrel. Libya produced almost a million barrels in November, according to the latest OPEC report.
- Lower volatility and liquidity expected in Europe: Markets around Europe will be closed today, including in the UK, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Therefore, lower volatility is expected in these markets and their respective currencies.