International equity markets finished with gains overnight after House Speaker Boehner mentioned that he intends to work on the budget negotiations with President Obama.

Republicans in the US Congress are scheduled to vote on Boehner's proposal of increasing taxes on citizens with income over US$1 million. Markets were further boosted after statistics showed that US GDP grew 3.1% in the third quarter-higher than the median estimate of 2.8%.

The UK's FTSE fell three points (-0.1%) to settle at 5958 whilst Germany's DAX added four points (+0.1%) to settle at 7672. France's CAC put on two points (+0.1%) to settle at 3667.

In the US, the Dow Jones increased 60 points (+0.5%) to settle at 13312 whilst the S&P climbed eight points (+0.6%) to settle at 1444. The Nasdaq added six points (+0.2%) to settle at 3050.

In the commodity space, crude oil for February delivery increased $0.15 to settle at $90.13 a barrel due to the positive US data. Gold futures for February declined 1.3% to settle at $1645.90 due to speculation that the Fed might not implement further monetary policies given that the latest data showed a greater-than-expected expansion in the economy.

In the currency space, the yen fell against its peers after the BoJ announced that it will increase its asset-purchase program by another JPY10 trillion (US$119 billion) and review its inflation target.

The euro traded higher against the US dollar after data showed that its index of household confidence increased to -26.6 in December compared to the previous month's -26.9. There is no major local economic data slated for release today.

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