Wednesday's Market Recap - Markets Gain Modestly As December Rally Continues.

What is The Premarket Telling Us?

7:00 AM.

US stock index futures are flat to mildly higher in the premarket. Dow futures up 5.00 points, Nasdaq futures up 4.75 points, and the S&P up 2.50 points.

On The Bond Desk:

The US 10 year bond yield at 2.47% down 0.02% or two basis points.

Currency Desk:

Euro dollar at 1.18

UK Pound at 1.34

Crude Oil:

Crude oil futures a bit lower at $59.49/barrel, down 0.80%.

On the Earnings Calendar:

None

In M&A News:

None

What About The Asian And European Markets?

Asian markets were mostly higher in their session. Japan (Nikkei) 225 up 0.08%, Shanghai up Hong Kong (Hang Seng) up 0.07%.

European markets were mixed. Germany DAX down 0.23%, France CAC 40 up 0.08%, London FTSE 100 up 0.37%.

Market And Sector Dynamics

Stocks opened flat this morning. The Dow up 5 points, Nasdaq up a fraction 0.49 point, with the S&P up 1 point.

Stocks ticked higher shortly after the open, remaining in positive territory for the rest of the trading session.

Eight of the eleven S&P sectors ended the day with modest gains. Utilities, consumer non-cyclicals, healthcare, basic materials, and industrials.

Factors Influencing Today's Market

• Crude oil prices fell modestly in today's trading. WTI crude oil price closed at $59.64/barrel, down 0.55%.

• December Consumer Confidence cooled bit after posting back to back 17 year highs, posting a 122.1 read vs 128.6 in Nov., and the 126.2 in Oct.

• November Pending Home Sales rose a tepid 0.2% vs the 0.5% expected.

• Asian markets closed higher, while European markets closed mixed.

Market Close Volume Traded And Advance Decline Ratio

When the market closed, the Dow gained 28.09 points, Nasdaq rose 3.09 points, and the S&P added 2.12 points. Total NYSE volume traded, a light 2.12 billion shares. Advancing shares outpaced Declining shares nearly 2:1.

Data Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN Money, Google Finance, Market Watch, TD Ameritrade, Yahoo Finance.