Gold ends barely changed ahead of Fed minutes

While ultra-low interest rates have boosted equity markets in recent years, Mr Parry said he believes it would be far more disruptive if the Fed chooses not to raise rates in December given the strong signals it has given. Sydney’s S&P ASX/200 advanced 0.5 per cent to 5,144.50 and Seoul’s Kospi was up 0.1 per cent to 1,965.06. While a report on Wednesday showed United States housing starts fell more than economists forecast, Atlanta Fed President Lockhart said he’s comfortable moving rates higher soon and the longer policy makers wait, the more aggressively they’ll need to move in the future. On Tuesday, the DAX rose 2.4 percent, the CAC-40 jumped 2.8 percent and Britain’s FTSE-100 added 2 percent.

Shares in Asia were also mixed with Japan’s Nikkei closing up 0.1 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite was flat and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped.

Food-service and uniform provider Aramark Holdings (NYSE:ARMK) put on its glad-rags, rising 7.9% to US$31.95 on the back of stronger-than-expected third quarter profits.

Lowe’s shares were up after its earnings beat expectations, but reversed course and were down 1.5 percent to $71.76.

Armed French police have raided an apartment in the north Paris suburb of Saint-Denis in an operation linked to Friday’s atrocities.

“The indices are treading water today… there seems to be a little bit of trepidation at the moment because of what’s been going on in Paris this morning and overnight”, said Augustin Eden, research analyst at Accendo Markets.

Gold remained under pressure and was trading near six-year lows.

Spread betting quotes indicate the Dow Jones will open around 35 points higher at 17,524 and the S&P 500 will start five points to the good at 2,055.

Elsewhere, Germany sold two-year government debt with a negative yield of 0.38 per cent, a record which points to expectations that the European Central Bank will ease monetary policy further in December.

The dollar retreated from a seven-month high against the euro.

Apple’s shares were up 3.2 percent at US$117.31 after Goldman Sachs added the iPhone maker to its “conviction buy” list, saying it sees potential for the stock gaining as much as 43 percent from current levels. Norway’s krone and South Africa’s rand also rallied.

Staples Inc. (SPLS) slid 4.6% as quarterly sales missed Wall Street’s target, (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ staples-quarterly-sales-miss-wall-streets-mark-2015-11-18) while Target Corp.

China’s home-price recovery slowed in October, data showed on Wednesday. Prices dropped in 33 cities, compared with 21 in September, and were unchanged in 10.

Citrix Systems, Inc.(CTXS) shares fell 7% after the company announced it will spin off its GoTo products into a separate, publicly-traded company.