November 4th 2024.
Stock markets in Asia started the week on a positive note, with shares mostly trading higher. All eyes were on China, as the country's leaders gathered for a major meeting that was expected to bring forth new measures to support their economy, the second largest in the world.
The announcement by OPEC+ that they will continue with production cuts until the end of the year also had a positive impact on the markets. This led to a rise in oil prices, with a barrel gaining more than $1. The decision came just before the highly anticipated U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, but no specific reason was given for the move.
In electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose by $1.19 to $70.68 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, saw an increase of $1.15 to $74.25 a barrel.
Meanwhile, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress was gathering for their weekly meeting. Analysts predicted that the government may announce significant spending initiatives to boost the economy. This news created a buzz in the market, with expectations for a new stimulus package running high.
Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management commented, "Markets are buzzing with whispers of a fresh stimulus package, setting expectations sky-high and creating a sense of excitement that's hard to ignore."
In terms of individual markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng saw a 0.2% increase, while the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.5%. Markets in Tokyo were closed for a holiday. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.6%, and the Kospi in Seoul jumped 1.4%. Taiwan's Taiex also advanced by 0.8%, but the Sensex in India experienced a decline of 1.8%.
On Friday, Amazon led the U.S. stock market higher, with the S&P 500 rising by 0.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.7%. The Nasdaq composite also gained 0.8%. Amazon's strong performance was attributed to its better-than-expected profit for the latest quarter.
Despite reporting a worse loss than expected, Intel saw a rally of 7.8% due to its revenue exceeding analysts' estimates. Cardinal Health also saw a jump of 7% after surpassing profit and revenue forecasts for the latest quarter and raising its profit forecast for the fiscal year.
Apple, on the other hand, experienced a decline of 1.2% after announcing lower-than-expected revenue growth for the important holiday quarter. This was below the forecasts of several analysts.
Treasury yields saw an increase following the release of a highly anticipated report that showed only 12,000 new jobs were added to the U.S. workforce in the previous month. This was significantly lower than the 115,000 economists were expecting, as well as the 223,000 jobs created in September. Another report also revealed that U.S. manufacturing contracted more than expected, which has been attributed to the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain high interest rates until September.
The general consensus on Wall Street is that the Fed will cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point next week. Despite the slowdown in the job market, there is still hope that the economy will avoid a recession, thanks in part to the anticipated interest rate cuts. So far, the overall economy has shown more resilience than initially feared.
In terms of currency, the dollar saw a decline against the Japanese yen, while the euro rose against the U.S. dollar. All in all, the markets are starting the week on a positive note, with hopes for a stronger global economy and continued growth.
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