On Wednesday, all three major U.S. stock indexes concluded the day 1.3% to 1.5% below Tuesday's closing figures, abruptly reversing from their previous positive trajectory. The decline had a cascading effect, impacting Asian and European stocks on Thursday. This retreat wasn't entirely unexpected, considering the substantial recent market rally. 

The dollar remained stable, while sterling crosses faced losses in holiday-thinned trade on Thursday, anticipating Friday's release of U.S. inflation figures—the last major data event of the year. 

Gold prices inched higher, trading within a relatively narrow range as investors awaited U.S. economic data for insights into the Federal Reserve's upcoming monetary decisions. 
Bitcoin, which briefly surpassed $44,000 on Wednesday, maintained stability at $43,717 on Thursday, slightly below its 20-month high from the previous week.

Asia Pacific
In the Asia Pacific region, Japan raised its growth projection for the fiscal year to 1.6%. Consequently, the yen saw a 0.2% increase, trading at 143.24 per dollar, having earlier reached 142.81 per dollar. Despite this gain, the yen has depreciated by more than 8% against the dollar throughout the year due to the Bank of Japan's persistent maintenance of negative short-term rates, in contrast to the 300 basis points of U.S. interest rate hikes. 
Goldman Sachs analysts emphasized the significance of the Bank of Japan retaining its easing bias in the latest meeting. 

Meanwhile, the Australian and New Zealand dollars hovered just below the five-month highs reached on Wednesday.

Europe
In Europe, the British pound experienced its most significant drop against the dollar in two months on Wednesday. This followed a disappointing report on British inflation, which fell below expectations to an annual rate of 3.9% in October, marking a two-year low. The currency declined by 0.7% to $1.2638 as traders factored in potential rate cuts by the Bank of England as early as May. On Thursday, it hit a one-week low around $1.2618. In contrast, the euro remained stable at $1.0941.

America
The late Wednesday sell-off in U.S. stocks surprised investors anticipating a continuation of the 'everything rally' until the year-end. The true implications may become clearer with the release of U.S. PCE inflation data on Friday, but Thursday's market open is expected to be closely watched. 
The day's data calendar is relatively light, featuring final third-quarter GDP data and weekly jobless claims. 
The highlight before Christmas is Friday's U.S. core PCE price index reading, the Fed's preferred gauge of underlying inflation, with expectations of another slowdown.