Macro Scenes:
- Wall Street gains: US stocks gained on a broad-based rally ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Energy was the only sector that finished lower in the S&P 500 due to a slump in crude prices.
- USD strengthened: The USD strengthened against all the other G-10 currencies as investors may have reassessed the Fed’s policy path. The US Treasury yields climbed slightly following a lower-than-expected weekly jobless claim data.
- Gold pulled back from 2,000: The precious metal was pressed by a higher US dollar and US bond yields. Gold faced key resistance of 2,000, retreating from a one-month high.
- Crude oil fell: Crude futures finished about 1% lower after slumping 5% due to a delay of the OPEC + meeting. The meeting is pushed back for one week to be held on 30 November. The cartel’s leader, Saudi Arabic, was not satisfied with other members’ output levels, which may signal disagreement about further production cuts among members.
- Bitcoin popped: Bitcoin rose to close to the highest level since April 2022 after Binance’s former CEO Chang Peng Zhao resigned as part of the settlement with the US prosecutors. The regulatory event may have caused the relief rally.
- Asian markets to open mixed: China has included two indebted developers, Country Garden and Sino-Ocean, in its draft white list, which may receive the government’s financial support. The Hang Seng Index was flat on Wednesday and set to open lower, with futures down 0 32%, and the ASX 200 futures fell 0.18%. Nikkei 225 futures were up 0.92%.
Chart of the Day:
USD/JPY, daily – The pair faces key resistance of the 50-day moving average at about 149.55. While the long uptrend is intact, downside pressure can still be dominated and potentially send it to test the channel support again in a near term.
Company News:
- Microsoft (NDX: MSFT) refreshed a record-high as its strategic AI partner, Altman, returned as CEO of OpenAI after days of drama. However, the generative AI pioneer has not fully built the new board, with negotiations involving Microsoft underway.
- NVIDIA (NDX: NDVA) fell more than 2% despite a blown-away earnings beat on Wednesday. The AI chip maker said China’s export restrictions will have a major impact on its revenue in the next quarter. This may signal the tech giant’s growth is close to a near-term peak.
- Baidu (NDX: BIDU) jumped more than 6% after CEO Robin Li said the company had stockpiled enough AI chips to support its generative AI-powered software, Ernie’s development. The Chinese tech giant beat market expectations and expected increased AI revenues in the third quarter results.
- Honor, a spinoff of Apple’s Chinese rival, Huawei, plans to go public. Hornor was spun off amid US sanctions on its smartphone business by cutting off critical supplies, including software and semiconductors, in 2020. The potential IPO can be a major move to compete in the premium smartphone markets.
Today’s Agenda:
- Australian Flash Manufacturing and Services PMI (Nov)
- EU and UK’s Flash Manufacturing and Services PMI (Nov)
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