Rubber Futures Hit 2-Week High

Natural gas decreased below 4, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD).

By Chelsey Dulaney

Stocks rose Monday to kick off the last full trading week before Christmas.

Indexes have been volatile this month, as worries around the artificial-intelligence boom have knocked technology stocks. At the same time, the Dow industrials is close to setting a new all-time high, after notching a record close last Thursday.

Major economic data will make this a busy week. Delayed job data for October and November is set for Tuesday, followed by a key inflation gauge on Thursday, when earnings from Nike and FedEx are due too.

Central banks in Europe and Japan also will make interest-rate decisions this week. The yen strengthened against the dollar early Monday.

Gold and silver remain standouts in global markets, with gold futures on pace to settle at a record high. Asian indexes dropped, with tech stocks tracking U.S moves from last week. Data from China highlighted slowing economic momentum.

In other recent trading:

Bitcoin prices held below $90,000. Check out last week's market wrap.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at chelsey.dulaney@wsj.com

This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).

CBOT wheat futures are leading the row crop complex lower in pre-market trade. Driving the falloff is concerns about competition to U.S. wheat coming from South America, where Argentina and Brazil both have been receiving good rains to support their crops. "The arrival of ample wheat production in the Southern Hemisphere worries U.S. wheat in particular, which lacks competitiveness on the international scene," says Argus in a note. Catch-up export sales reports coming from the USDA are doing little to instill any positive sentiment into trading. Most-active wheat falls 0.7%, while corn slips 0.1% and soybeans inch up 0.1%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

By Adam Clark

Gold prices were set to reach a record on Monday, lifting shares of miners of the precious metal.

Gold futures in New York were up 1.0% to $4,372.50 a troy ounce in early trading. That puts them on track to break the previous settlement record of $4,359.40 reached on Oct. 20.

That's good news for mining stocks. Freeport-McMoRan was up 2.8% and Newmont gained 1.6% in the premarket.

"The move reflects renewed demand for the metal as expectations build for another Federal Reserve rate cut next year. This helps to reduce the opportunity cost of holding nonyielding assets, like gold," wrote David Morrison, a market analyst at Trade Nation, in a research note.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

By WSJ Staff

Gold prices are poised to set a new high-water mark, as this year's dramatic rally in the precious metal regains momentum.

• Most actively traded gold futures contracts rose more than 1%, and recently stood at more than $4,373 a troy ounce.
• If that price holds through the end of regular trading, it would set a new record.
• The current end-of-day record is a little over $4,359 a troy ounce, set on Oct. 20.
• Silver prices aren't far off a record settlement high, hit on Thursday.

This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).

Nickel decreased to 14330.00 USD/T, the lowest since April 2025.

Over the past 4 weeks, Nickel lost 2.32%, and in the last 12 months, it decreased 8.53%.