The JPY is the strongest and the USD is the weakest as the North American session begins. The focus of the market is on Cyber Monday promotions, especially after retailers offered substantial discounts on Black Friday to attract budget-conscious customers. In the U.S. Cyber Monday, known for special online sales on the first Monday after Thanksgiving, is anticipated to be a major shopping day in the U.S. This expectation is based on Black Friday’s performance, where U.S. retail sales, both online and in stores, saw a 2.5% increase from the previous year, as reported by the Wall Street Journal citing third-party analytics. Salesforce, a company that monitors retail data, informed Reuters that online spending on Black Friday reached $16.4 billion, driven by shoppers seeking out average discounts of 30%. This surge in online shopping is predicted to boost Cyber Monday sales by 5.4% compared to last year, potentially reaching a record $12 billion, according to a Salesforce peer, Adobe Digital Insights.
Oil prices declined on Monday as investors anticipate the upcoming OPEC+ meeting, which was rescheduled to November 30 from November 26 due to reported disagreements over planned production cuts. There are reports that OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, is nearing a compromise that may extend the unilateral output reductions by Saudi Arabia and Russia at least through the first quarter of the next year.
US yields (and European yields) are lower to start the trading week. US stocks are also lower after closing higher for the 4th consecutive week on Friday. European shares are also trading lower as North American traders enter for the day.
At 10 AM today, US October new-home sales will be release with expectations of 0.723 million on a annualized basis versus 0.759 million in September.
A snapshot of the markets to kickstart the North American session shows:
- Crude oil is trading down $0.69 at $74.90. Friday at this time, the price was trading at $76.57
- Spot gold is trading up $10.90 or 0.55% at $2013.12. Friday at this time, the price was trading at $1995.44
- Spot silver is trading up $0.41 or 1.71% $24.72. Friday at this time, the price was trading at $23.66
- Bitcoin is trading higher at $37,019. Friday at this time, the price was trading at $37,696. The high price over the weekend reached $37,908. The low price today extended to $36,907
In the US stock market, the major indices start the new trading week with the futures implying declines across the board:
- Dow Industrial Average is trading down -51 points. On Friday, the index rose 117.12 points or 0.33% at 35390.16
- S&P index is trading down -8.5 points points. On Friday, the index rose rose 2.7 points or 0.06% at 4559.33
- NASDAQ index is down -25 points. On Friday, the index fell -15.00 points or -0.11% at 14250.85
In the European equity markets, the major indices are trading mixed/mostly higher.
- German DAX, -0.21%
- France’s CAC, -0.09%
- UK’s FTSE 100, -0.31%
- Spain’s Ibex, +0.28%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB, -0.19% (10 minute delay)
In the US debt market, yields are trading lower:
- US 2Y T-NOTE: 4.936% -1.9 basis points. The level from this time on Friday was at 4.944%
- US 5Y T-NOTE: 4.484% -1.8 basis points. The level from this time on Friday was at 4.495%
- US 10Y T-NOTE: 4.464% -2.0 basis points. The level from this time on Friday was at 4.472%
- US 30Y BOND: 4.596% -2.1 basis points.. The level from this time on Friday was at 4.597%
- 2 – 10-year spread closed at -47.5 basis points. The level from this time on Friday was at -47.0 basis points
- 2 – 30 year spread closed at -34.5 basis points. The level from this time on Friday was at -34.5 basis points
In the European debt market, benchmark 10-year yields are trading mixed:
European 10 year yields are lower
