24/11/2023
Today’s Announcements & News
Asia
Asia-Pacific markets displayed a mixed trend following the broad-based rally on Wall Street before the Thanksgiving holiday:
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 experienced a 0.62% decline, closing at 7,029.2, extending losses from the previous day. The country’s business activity contracted at a faster pace in November, according to Judo Bank’s flash estimates, with the composite purchasing managers index dropping to 46.4 from October’s 47.6.
South Korea’s Kospi marked its fourth consecutive day of gains, closing 0.13% higher at 2,514.96, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.17%, finishing at 815.98. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index reversed earlier losses to gain 0.92% in its final hour of trading, and the mainland Chinese CSI 300 index was 0.48% up, concluding the day at 3,561.52. Japan’s markets were closed due to a public holiday.
US
Stocks showed positive momentum on Wednesday amid a broadened November market rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 184.74 points, or 0.53%, closing at 35,273.03. Similarly, the S&P 500 climbed 0.41% to 4,556.62, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.46% to 14,265.86.
More than half of the stocks trading on the New York Stock Exchange were up, signaling a widening breadth in the market rally. The Nasdaq experienced increased participation, with 62.9% of its stocks rising. Small- and mid-cap stocks performed well, with a 0.7% and 0.6% rise, respectively. The energy sector faced a slight dip of 0.1% after OPEC postponed a meeting scheduled for the weekend on production cuts. Stocks like Marathon Oil, EOG Resources, and Devon Energy closed lower.
The 10-year Treasury yield briefly fell to 4.369% in the morning, hitting its lowest level since September 22. It later stabilized at around 4.41%, marking a significant drop after surpassing the 5% mark in October for the first time in 16 years.
In the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting notes, the indication remained that monetary policy would stay restrictive without any hint of imminent interest rate cuts. Despite this, investors appear optimistic that the central bank won’t hike rates during its December meeting, as suggested by fed funds futures trading.
Commodity
Oil prices dipped over 1% in early Thursday trading, extending losses from the previous session due to OPEC+ postponing a ministerial meeting, suggesting potential reductions in output might be less than initially anticipated:
Brent futures fell $1.09, or 1.31%, to $80.89 a barrel, after a decline of as much as 4% on the preceding day. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 99 cents, or 1.31%, to $76.09, following a drop of as much as 5% in the previous session.
On the other hand, gold prices experienced a rise, approaching the significant $2,000 per ounce level:
Spot gold was up 0.4% at $1,997.39 per ounce, indicating increased demand for bullion amid a weaker U.S. dollar and lower Treasury yields. The price had reached a three-week high of $2,007.29 on Tuesday.
The above analysis is only for the views of market researchers and is for reference only and is not regarded as a specific investment suggestion.
