On Wall Street, futures are up slightly, awaiting the publication of the minutes of the Fed, relating to the last meeting of the FOMC – the monetary policy arm of the US central bank -, when rates on US fed funds were raised by 75 basis points for the fourth time in a row, to the new range between 3.75% and 4%, a record value since 2008.
At around 3.40 pm Italian time, the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 rose by around 0.20%, while the Nasdaq advanced by 0.36%.
Tomorrow, Thursday 24 November, the day on which Thanksgiving falls this year in the United States, Wall Street will remain closed, to then reopen the following day, therefore on Black Friday, and close early at 1 pm New York time.
Yesterday the US stock market closed positively: the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 397.82 points (+1.18%), at 34,098.10; the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.36% to 11,174.41; the S&P 500 also advanced 1.36% to 4,003.58, closing above the 4,000 mark for the first time since September.
“Investor sentiment remains upbeat, and this is triggering the market rally,” he commented on CNBC
Eugene Profit, CEO of Profit Investments – With the next Fed meeting looming (December 13-14), we believe the central bank is likely to moderate its language a bit and that investors will want to remain optimistic, ignoring the many headwinds in the market”.
The effect of the Fed, all aimed at slowing down the economy, to cause an about-turn in inflation, is making itself known in the US labor market:
Last week the number of American workers filing for unemployment benefits rose by 17,000 to 240,000, higher than consensus expectations of 225,000, and the record since last August. The four-week moving average stood at 226,750, up from 221,250 the previous week.
The data relating to orders for durable goods in the United States was also announced today, rising by 1% in October, much better than the growth expected by analysts, equal to +0.4%, and recovering strongly from +0.3 % of September.
Excluding the transport component, durable goods orders rose by 0.5%, better than the unchanged trend expected by the consensus, and strongly recovering from the previous month’s decline of -0.5%, which was revised between the other down to -0.9%.
However, economists believe that the trend is destined to slow down, with the effects of the Fed’s restrictive measures destined to become increasingly visible.
Down the rates of ten-year US Treasuries which, pending the minutes of the Fed, once again pierce the threshold of 3.8%, to 3.735%, while two-year rates rise up to 4.531%.
Watch out for statements made by Kansas City Fed Chair Esther George, who said US interest rates may need to rise to even higher levels as the Federal Reserve scrambles to control inflation and hold mind your consumption expenses.
Among the important corporate stories, Tesla did well, which advanced by 3%, benefiting from the upgrade of Citi analysts, who raised the rating from “sell” to “neutral”.
Focus on BYD shares, the Chinese electric car manufacturer, which fell on the Hong Kong stock exchange by more than 2.5% following the news of the decision by Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s holding company, to cut its stake in the group. Shares of BYD ended the session down 1.80%.
Buffett sold 3.2 million shares of BYD worth HK$630 million (the equivalent of $80.6 million), reducing his stake in the company to 15.99% from 16.28% previously.
Coinbase, the stock of the cryptocurrency trading platform listed on the Nasdaq, continues to benefit from the support of Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of Ark Invest. In the pre-market, quotations had risen by more than 3%. At the start of the session, the stock dropped more than 1%.
For the title of the cryptocurrency platform, 2022 was quite disastrous: the group’s shares fell 82% YTD, paying for the crisis that hit digital currencies and the entire crypto industry, which recently culminated in the sensational bankruptcy of FTX , platform by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).