International markets finished in the green overnight as a cease-fire was agreed upon by Hamas and Israel, indicating that tensions in the Middle East may dissipate.

Elsewhere, eurozone finance ministers decided to meet again next week to discuss bailout funds for Greece. UK's FTSE added four points (+0.1%) to settle at 5752 as the eurozone's failure to reach an agreement was overcome by a rally in the utility sector.

Germany's DAX gained 12 points (+0.2%) to settle at 7185 whilst France's CAC increased 15 points (+0.4%) to settle at 3477. In the US, equities were positively affected by data showing that jobless claims fell 9%, to 410,000 last week.

The Dow Jones increased 48 points (+0.4%) to settle at 12837 whilst the S&P gained three points (+0.2%) to settle at 1391. The Nasdaq rose 10 points (+0.3%) to settle at 2927.

In the commodity space, crude oil traded higher after the Energy Department announced that US inventories declined by 1.47 million barrels to 374.5 million barrels.

Crude oil for January delivery added $0.63 (+0.7%) to settle at $87.38 a barrel. Gold also finished higher due to an increase in bullion purchases by banks; gold for December delivery added 0.3% to settle at $1728.20 an ounce.

In the currency space, the Japanese yen fell against its most traded peers amidst reports that the country's exports fell 6.5% in October compared to the prior corresponding period.

The euro advanced against its counterparts as euro area finance ministers come closer to making a decision for bailout funds. The US dollar traded higher than the yen but declined against its peers due to relative market optimism.

There will be no relevant data released today.

Morning Market Analysis: Modest Gains Overnight is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog