U.S. Markets Move Down Again; Tech Stocks Once more in Red

U.S. stocks fell in the first after the market tried to understand data of how the least jobless claims since 1969 will affect inflation. Personal spending also rose more than expected. 

The tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 underperformed other benchmarks again this week as higher Treasury yields damp the outlook for growth stocks. The S&P 500 pared declines.

• Stoxx Europe is up by 0.01%
• Dow Jones is down by 0.16%
• NASDAQ is up by 0.20%

New Zealand Raises Interest Rates For The Second Time In Two Months

The Central Bank of New Zealand has raised interest rates for the second time in two months and analysts expect that policies will be tightened more quickly than previously expected to control inflation. The Monetary Policy Committee on Wednesday raised the official cash rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.75%, as expected. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand forecasts that the cash rate will be raised to 2% by the end of 2022, a year earlier than projected just three months ago.

Deutsche Boerse’s EEX To Launch Hydrogen-Index Next Year

Deutsche Boerse’s power and gas exchange EEX is planning to launch an index from 2022 to price hydrogen and is expected to help the trading of the commodity. The Bourse’s board said that hydrogen will have a huge impact on the green economy. More details on the index will be available from the end of this year. It would be the first publicly-traded index that tracks hydrogen as a commodity.

Japan To Add $22.1 Trillion Yen To Stimulus 

The Nikkei newspaper on Wednesday reported that the Japanese government is planning to add $22.1 trillion Yen to the pandemic stimulus of $36 trillion yen. The government is trying to boost the recovery with next year’s election as a motivating factor. Anyway, the government failed to spend more than 30 trillion yen it budgeted for stimulus last year and it may be hard to inject all of the new money into the economy quickly.

U.S. Jobless Claims Hit 52-Year Low

The U.S initial Initial jobless claims dropped to 199,000 last week, the lowest level since November 1969. The numbers are below the expectations of 260,000 and the previous week’s 270,000 level. And also the second-quarter GDP growth was revised up slightly to 2.1%, below the estimates for 2.2%. Analysts are expecting an interest rate hike in 2022, and the fears of a hike are fueled by these dropping jobless claims.

Supply Shortages Ease in the U.S., Continue in Europe

Measures by Bloomberg Economics have shown that supply shortages in the U.S. declined in October, even while remaining at a historically high level. This indicates that even though shortages continue, they are becoming less severe. 

However, in Europe, there is an indication that conditions are getting worse.

Iran, UAE Plan to Turn a ‘New Page’ in Relations, Minister Says

Iran pledged to begin a new chapter in its relations with the United Arab Emirates, possibly signaling a thawing of tensions in the oil-rich Persian Gulf as world powers prepare for talks to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal. In a tweet, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani also described a meeting in Dubai with UAE Presidential Adviser Anwar Gargash as “friendly and cordial.” 

U.S. Markets Move Down; Tech Stocks Lead Fall

Stocks in the U.S. market moved down led by technology shares. Tech stocks took the heat of treasury yields gained. 

The S&P 500 fell in volatile trading, along with the sharp fall in Nasdaq 100. Shares of Zoom Video dropped 12% after an indication of growth slowing.

• Stoxx Europe is down by 0.99%
• Dow Jones is down by 0.10%
• NASDAQ is down by 1.27%

Sales of Xiaomi Slows With Chip Shortages

Chinese tech-major Xiaomi reported a slowdown in quarterly sales after supply chain shortages prevented the normal flow of vital parts. Competition from the other smartphone brands also hurt the company’s revenue. Meanwhile, profits are down 84% YoY after losses in investments as the Chinese economy slowed down.

Cold Weather Threatens Coal Shortage in China

Record coal production for the quarter has not yet ended China’s energy crisis. The threat of extreme cold this winter could cause a dent in supplies again soon according to a consultancy owned by China’s biggest coal ports.

The report says that weather predictions show a drop in temperatures for winter, which will increase the demand for coal to heat homes.

U.S. and Other Nations Plans to Release Oil Reserves to Pull Down Price

In a coordinated effort by major economies around the world, oil-consuming nations including the U.S. and India are releasing huge amounts of oil reserves to cause an artificial demand-supply mismatch. The aim of the move is to bring down oil prices after OPEC+ nations refused to increase production.

The U.S. is releasing 50 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve. China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the U.K. will join in the effort.

Alibaba Moves Toward Record Low While Investors Bet on JD.com

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s October rally has given way to a renewed slump that has the stock heading for a record low while technology rival JD.com Inc. is extending its recovery and winning favor with analysts. Deutsche Bank AG’s Leo Chiang cut his target price for Alibaba’s Hong Kong stock by almost 4% on Monday, citing “near-term challenges,” while raising his target for JD.com by 16%, noting “resilient growth amid macro uncertainties.”

One Investor Makes a Quick $582 Million in Evergrande Fire Sale

The buyer of China Evergrande Group’s stake in HengTen Networks Group Ltd. is sitting on a paper profit of $582 million after the shares surged in the wake of the sale. Li Shao Yu agreed on Nov. 17 to buy Evergrande’s 18% stake in the internet services firm for HK$2.13 billion ($273 million) at the discounted price of HK$1.28 a share. The stock has since rallied almost 140% to about HK$4. That values her stake at HK$6.67 billion.

BlackRock Says Time to Buy China Stocks, Trim India Exposure

BlackRock Inc. is trimming its investments in Indian equities and becoming more optimistic on China on attractive valuations amid expectations that policy hurdles will ease next year. “Valuations are key right now,” Belinda Boa, head of active investments for Asia Pacific at the world’s biggest asset manager, said at a briefing. “Because of the outperformance we’ve seen in India this year, on a relative basis, we are starting to take profits” and becoming more positive on Chinese growth stocks, she said.

Zoom Falls 25% on Slower Revenue Growth

Shares of Zoom Video Communications fell 25% on Tuesday after the video conferencing company reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth in the third quarter. Even though the growth is weaker, the revenue was reported at $105 crores, better than expectations. The company is not just having slower customer growth, the employee addition is also not promising. The platform is facing tight competition from rivals including Cisco, Microsoft, and Salesforce.

French Nov Business Activity Accelerates Faster Than Ever 

IHS Markit said on Tuesday that its November flash Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the French services sector rose to 58.2 points compared to 56.6 points in October. This is great compared to the forecast for 56.0 points. The flash PMI for the French manufacturing sector accelerated to 54.6 points against 53.6 points in October, better than the forecast of 53.0 points.

U.S. Stocks Move Down Once Again

Stocks moved down for the second day as traders continued to book profits after earnings reports from major corporations. There is also the volatility ahead of Friday’s options expiry. 

Cisco Systems, the biggest maker of computer networking equipment, pulled down Dow Jones after a poor sales projection. Alibaba Group also cut its projections for 2022 revenue with reduced consumer spending in China. 

• Stoxx Europe is down by 0.47%
• Dow Jones is down by 0.51%
• NASDAQ is down by 0.10%

Chinese Digital Stocks to Recover in the Long Term, Says Templeton 

Franklin Templeton Investments said on Thursday that digital and internet-related stocks of China had taken huge hits in the previous months, but they will recover and continue to grow in the long term. The Hang Seng Tech Index, which includes internet stocks such as Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings, has recovered in recent weeks but remains more than 40% below its February peak. China’s tight controls and China-U.S tech war affected these stocks adversely.

Gemini Crypto Exchange Looking to Raise $400 million Funds

The cryptocurrency exchange Gemini Trust is seeking to raise $400 million funds and take the total valuation to $7 billion. No final decisions have been taken and the terms can still change. Many crypto exchanges are boosting their business thinking that the market is favorable.  The exchange which was founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss recently had about $268.3 million in daily spot volume as compared with Binance at $30.2 billion.

Alibaba Group Slashes its Fiscal 2022 Forecast

Alibaba Group reported a 29% rise YoY in revenue to 200.7 billion yuan (Rs 2,33,171 crores) for the quarter ended September. It expects revenue growth of 20% to 23% in 2022 fiscal, below the analyst expectation of a 27% increase. The slowdown is majorly caused by China’s latest regulations on the domestic technology industry as a part of its data protection rules. Many Chinese tech giants was adversely affected,  including  Alibaba who was fined $2.8 billion (Rs 20,794 crores) in April as part of this anti-monopoly probe.

Turkish Currency Falls to Record Lows

Turkey’s central bank has continued to cut its interest rate for the third consecutive month, with President Recep Erdogan asking for cheaper loans. However, this is damaging the currency of the country and inflation is going through the roof. Read this article from March to learn more about Turkey’s never ending crisis.

Bill Gates says Covid Death Levels may drop by 2022

Microsoft Co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates said today that Covid deaths and infection rates may dip below seasonal flu levels by the middle of next year assuming new variants of the virus don’t emerge. He was talking at a Bloomberg event in Singapore and said that the vaccines, natural immunity and oral medicines are catching up to the disease spreading rate.

Jack Ma’s Ant Group Sees Profit Rise 39% on Investments

Ant Group Co.’s profit rose an estimated 39% in the June quarter, attributed to a gain in investments as billionaire Jack Ma’s fintech giant grapples with the impact of China’s rapidly shifting rules for private enterprise. The company contributed 6.5 billion yuan ($1 billion) to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s earnings, a filing showed Thursday. Based on Alibaba’s one-third stake in Ant, that translates to an estimated 19.71 billion yuan in profit, up 39% from a year earlier. Ant’s earnings lag one quarter behind Alibaba’s. Ant declined to comment.

U.S. Stocks Move Down From Near All-Time Highs

Stocks in the U.S. market moved down with a consolidation pattern. Traders took a bearish view on the third day of the week as data showed fresh U.S. home construction unexpectedly slowed down. The data suggest that raw material prices along with labour shortage may be affecting multiple projects.

• Stoxx Europe is up by 0.19%
• Dow Jones is down by 0.39%
• NASDAQ is down by 0.06%

China Can’t Remain Isolated From the World, Says Vice President

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan said on Wednesday that the country can’t develop while being isolated from the world. He also said that the world must work together to boost global economic growth and also Beijing will continue opening up more to foreign investment. The country will provide more market investment and growth opportunities to the world,” he added.

Ericsson Wants Half of its Staff to Work From Home

Ericsson, a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company is redesigning its work culture in its 400 offices by shifting half of its workforce to remote working. Peter Laurin, Head of Managed Services at Ericsson said that there will be no going back to the old fashion of working. “Over the long run, we are aiming for a hybrid model”, he added. Currently, 85% of the workforce at Ericsson globally is working from home and a 50-50 hybrid model will be implemented.

China to Establish Special Relending Facility for Cleaner Coal Use

Chinese media reported on Wednesday that it will set up a special re-lending facility for a total of $31.35 billion to support the clean use of coal in the country. The facility will focus on promoting the clean and efficient processing of coal as a part of China’s long-term climate goal. The facility will also look into safe, efficient, green, and smart coal mining, as well as the development and use of coalbed methane.

Amazon Britain to Stop Accepting Visa Credit Cards

The e-commerce giant Amazon said on Wednesday that it will stop accepting Visa credit cards in the U.K from next year because of high transaction fees. Amazon said that such payment costs should drop over time with technological advancements, but instead they continue to rise.

Metaverse Stocks Buzzing in Korea With Multiple ETF Launches

Metaverse stock fans are finding that South Korea is a go-to Asian market to bet on the technology, with a host of exchange-traded products and shares up for grabs. Korea’s ETFs focused on the metaverse, many of them newly listed, have seen double-digit gains this month to trump the Kospi benchmark’s 0.3% decline. Aside from the popular U.S.-listed Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF, most other vehicles focused on the concept are hosted in South Korea, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.

Biden and Xi Discussed Releasing Oil From Strategic Reserves

President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping discussed the merits of releasing oil from their strategic petroleum reserves to ensure stability in global energy markets. Monday’s virtual summit didn’t make any decisions on the issue and both sides put forward their own views on the subject, according to officials familiar with the discussions, asking not to be named because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter. 

U.S. Stocks Move Up with Retail Sales Data

Stocks in the U.S. market jumped up after positive economic data was published. Sales data indicated the biggest jump in U.S. retail sales since March. Retail sales rose 1.7% in October, better than expected, both for all items and excluding autos.

Inflation has been rising at its fastest pace in 30 years, but consumers don’t appear to be reducing their purchases.

• Stoxx Europe is up by 0.21%
• Dow Jones is up by 0.32%
• NASDAQ is up by 0.26%

Asian Game stocks rise after Reports Say China to Resume Approvals

Major Asian gaming business-related stocks rose on Tuesday after the 21st Century Business Herald reported that China’s regulators are planning to restart approvals for online games after a three-month halt that will boost the revenue of developers. Gaming-related stocks such as Tencent Holdings (+2.1%), NetEase (+4%) closed in the green. In Tokyo Nexon (+6.3%) which gets 28% of its revenue from China also moved up.

China Asks State-Owned Firm to Stop Cryptocurrency Mining 

China said on Tuesday that it has asked its state-owned companies to stop cryptocurrency mining and strict actions will be taken on companies that defy the ban. The chief economic planner has initiated an investigation to clean up State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) involved in mining. The country has already been hard on Bitcoin miners this year, blaming them for issues from energy wastage to coal mining accidents. 

Thousands of Australians Want Compensation for Vaccine Side Effect

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday that the Australian government will need at least A$50 million funds as more than 10,000 people to register for a government program that aims to give compensation for those who lost income after being hospitalized for significant side effects from the vaccine. Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has got almost 79,000 reports of significant side effects from 3.68 crore doses of vaccine, and the most reported side effects include a sore arm, headache, fever, and chills.

U.S. Import Prices Rises in October

The U.S Labor Department said on Tuesday that the import prices rose 1.2% in October after accelerating 0.4% in September. On a YoY basis, the prices jumped 10.7% in October against the 9.3% jump in September. The surge in import prices is mainly caused by the increasing costs of petroleum products and food. Imported fuel prices surged 8.6% last month after rising 3.9% in September. This data indicates that inflation could remain high for a while.

Musk Exercises Options and Sells $930 Million More Tesla Shares

Elon Musk exercised his stock options and sold more shares of Tesla, sending the stock down by the most since March 2020. Even though the stock is now 15% down for November, dip-buyers have come in and taken the stock up 3% today. This $930 Million worth of sold shares adds to the $6.9 billion he already sold last week, taking the total to nearly $7.83 billion (~Rs 57,800 crores). Musk said he was selling the stocks to help pay taxes.

Fed Orders China’s ICBC to Fix Risk-Management Deficiencies

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China must fix risk-management deficiencies at its New York branch that were identified by the Federal Reserve, according to a Tuesday statement. The world’s biggest bank by assets agreed to the U.S. central bank’s demands and will submit written plans to the Fed, according to an agreement between the lender and the regulator. The problems were revealed during recent examinations conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on the Chinese bank’s U.S. operations. The sanctions don’t trigger a fine. 

U.S. Stocks Move Back up after Inflation Data

Stocks in the U.S. market moved amid optimism that companies can move on from the supply-side crisis and central banks will keep interest rates low 

The S&P 500 climbed, led by technology and industrial stocks. Tesla fell once again after Elon Musk tweeted out the idea of selling more of his shares.

• Stoxx Europe is up by 0.14%
• Dow Jones is up by 0.25%
• NASDAQ is down by 0.08%

China to Vaccinate All Children Aged Three and Above by Year-End

China decides to fully vaccinate all kids aged between three and eleven against Covid-19 by the end of this year. It has already fully vaccinated more than 75% of its total population (105 crore people). For the last many weeks the country is focusing on giving boosters for adults and getting the initial shots for teenagers and kids. According to data released by China’s National Health Commission, more than 84 million kids aged 3 to 11 have already received at least one dose.

Pfizer Generates Comparatively More Antibodies, Study Says

According to a study in the journal Cell Host and Microbe, Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s Covid-19 vaccine has the strongest immune response compared to the other three vaccines selected for the study, Sinopharm, Sputnik V, AstraZeneca vaccines. The study was conducted in July among 196 fully-immunized people in Mongolia. The study does not provide details of intervals between doses, which may directly affect the number of antibodies produced.

Trading Starts at Beijing Stock Exchange

Today a total of 81 stocks started trading on the Beijing Stock Exchange, marking its official launch. The new exchange focuses on increasing investment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that aren’t profitable enough to list on other Chinese markets. Out of these 81 companies, 10 companies that recently conducted initial public offerings (IPOs) on the new exchange rose as much as six-fold and made an amazing debut. The auto parts maker Henan Tongxin Transmission and quartz crystal component maker Anhui Jing Sai Technology jumped  511% and 255% respectively.

Heineken to Buy Distell Group Holding Distell and Namibian Breweries

The brewing company Heineken said on Monday that it has agreed to buy South African wine and spirits maker Distell Group Holdings and Namibia Breweries for 2.2 billion euros (Rs 18,686 crores) and 1.8 billion euros (Rs 15,289 crores) respectively. The takeover of Distell will brighten the wine and spirits portfolio of Heineken and it will sell Distell’s British-based Scotch whiskies.

Big Short’s Michael Burry Thinks Elon Musk ‘Just Wants to Sell Tesla’

Michael Burry is once again commenting on Elon Musk, saying that the Tesla Inc. CEO doesn’t need cash, he just wants to sell his company’s stock. “He doesn’t need cash. He just wants to sell $TSLA,” the investor made famous in “The Big Short” film said in a tweet. He also tweeted a chart of Tesla’s share price — last closed at $1,033.42 — with an arrow pointing to when Musk said that the automaker’s stock was trading “too high.”

Morgan Stanley Says Steer Clear of U.S. Stocks and Bonds in 2022

Stay away from U.S. stocks and bonds next year, and seek out better returns in Europe and Japan.

That’s the advice of Morgan Stanley’s strategy team, which sees fading monetary support and high valuations holding back American assets in 2022, even as growth improves and inflation moderates. Fundamentals are more attractive in Europe and Japan, where central bankers will be more patient and inflationary pressures are lower, according to the strategists in their annual investment outlook.