Gold prices rose and a gauge of global equity markets hit an all-time high on Thursday in light holiday trade as a year-end rally on Wall Street advanced further on optimism over a U.S.-China trade agreement. Oil rose to three-month highs, buoyed by a report showing lower U.S. crude inventories, hopes the pending Sino-U.S. trade deal will soon be signed and efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to curb crude supply. Boxing Day holidays closed markets in Commonwealth countries around the world while a second Christmas Day shuttered markets in a swath of European countries. Overnight in Asia, equity markets rose, with China shares closing higher after Beijing laid out additional plans to bolster its economy, including some […]