Global markets are operating on very thin volumes as we would...

Global markets are operating on very thin volumes as we would expect. Basically, final year end adjustments to portfolios with no trend indicators.

In the penultimate trading session for the year, Europea markets were all down than the falls were muted.

The FTSE closed down just 2 points (.029%), the DAX fell 40 points (.24%) and the CAC fell 36 points (.48%).

Energy stocks bore the brunt of the losses as the oil price declined 1.7% - Brent crude at US$78.19.

ECB is also working hard to hose down any impending interest rate cuts in Europe.

In the US, the markets were flat.

The DOW rose 53 points (.14%), the NBI was largely unchanged and closed up just .1 of a point (.002%). The NASDAQ Composite fell 4 points (.027% and the Russell small cap index declined 7 points (.38%).

Last day of trading on the ASX today and it will be interesting if the ASX takes any notice of overseas markets and just does its own thing.

US unemployment data ticked up a bit with 218k new jobless claims for the week - up from 205k in the previous week. Market expectations were for 210k.

While the number of jobless claims is rising, the number of lay-offs isn't.

US Treasury 10 year bond yields rose slightly to 3.85%.

The gold price was down a bit to US$2,067.