21/11/2023
Today’s Announcements & News
Asia
Asia-Pacific markets showed a mixed performance on Monday, with several major bourses experiencing a rebound after a lower closing in the previous session. The People’s Bank of China decided to keep its benchmark lending rates steady, with the one-year loan prime rate at 3.45% and the five-year benchmark loan rate at 4.2%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 briefly touched a 33-year high but struggled to sustain gains, ultimately falling by 0.59% to close at 33,388.03. The Topix also dropped by 0.77% to 2,372.6.
Hong Kong stocks rebounded, with the Hang Seng index rising 1.77% in the final hour of trading. China’s CSI 300 ended 0.23% higher at 3,576.32.
South Korea’s Kospi gained around 0.86%, closing at 2,491.2, while the Kosdaq, focused on small-cap stocks, recorded a larger increase of 1.75% to finish at 813.08.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 saw a modest gain of 0.13%, closing at 7,058.4.
US
U.S. stock markets edged higher at the beginning of the truncated Thanksgiving week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 111 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P 500 added 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.8%.
Microsoft’s shares rose by 1.9% following the announcement that former OpenAI head Sam Altman would be leading a new AI research team at the tech giant.
Sectors like technology and communication services saw notable gains in the S&P 500, up by 1.1% and 0.8% respectively. Palo Alto Networks surged by 4.4%, and Intel climbed by 1.3%. Paramount and Netflix also experienced increases of 7% and 1.9% respectively.
U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving, with Friday also having shortened trading hours. Trading activity around the Thanksgiving period has shown volatility in recent years, but historically, November remains the S&P 500’s best-performing month, as noted in the Stock Traders’ Almanac.
Looking ahead, Nvidia’s earnings report on Tuesday is anticipated to be a significant market catalyst. As this year’s top-performing stock, Nvidia has seen a rise of over 200%.
Wall Street came off a positive week previously. The S&P 500 closed with a 2.2% gain, the Dow rose by 1.9%, marking the first three-week streak since July. The Nasdaq Composite also recorded its best week since June, ending the week higher by 2.4%.
Commodity
Gold prices slipped on Monday, influenced by a rise in U.S. Treasury yields, as investors awaited the release of the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes for insights into the central bank’s stance on interest rates. Spot gold dipped nearly 0.3% to $1,974.59 per ounce, following a peak of $1,993.29 on Friday. U.S. gold futures fell 0.4% to $1,977.30.
On another front, oil futures surged over 2% on Monday, extending gains due to the possibility of OPEC+ implementing deeper supply cuts to stabilize prices. This comes after a four-week decline prompted by concerns about demand and the Israel-Hamas conflict’s potential impact on Middle East supply. The Brent crude contract for January rose 2.63% to $82.73 a barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate contract for December increased by 2.49% to $77.78 a barrel.
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.