Financial market research and analysis

MARKETS
News
• Stocks in Asia-Pacific struggled for direction in Thursday trade as investors reacted to minutes released overnight from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s November meeting;
• The Fed weighed adjusting bond purchases to provide more help to economy ‘fairly soon,’ minutes show;
• Fed, IMF sound warning that more QE could lead to "Unintended Consequences";
• Covid cases are exploding across U.S. and Thanksgiving could be an ‘accelerator event’ as Millions of Americans are set to fly. Biden urges Americans to forego traditions to combat pandemic;
• South Korea reported 583 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest since March, as it grapples with a third wave of infections that appears to be worsening despite tough new social distancing measures;
• President Trump pardons Michael Flynn.

What Else?
• Britain’s borrowing hits peacetime high as Covid fuels economic plunge not seen for 300 years;
• China’s Xi congratulates Biden on election victory;
• White House considers lifting European travel restrictions, Reuters reports;
• U.S Q3 GDP is unchanged at record 33.1% in first revision. Profits soar 27.1%;
• Exxon sees a decade of pain and cuts Oil price forecast as much as 17% for next seven years;
• Shares of Slack jumped 32% Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal first reported that Salesforce had held talks to buy the company.

Earnings update
• Deere & Co (BBY) reported on Wednesday fourth quarter earnings that beat analysts' forecasts and revenue that topped expectations. Shares were unchanged after-hours.

Day Ahead
• Earnings: GAZPROM PJSC;
• Macro: Market Holiday in the U.S. for Thanksgiving; ECB Monetary Policy Statement; Japanese Tokyo Core CPI.

Quote of the day
“Women are wiser than men because they know less and understand more.” – James Thurber.

WRAP
Markets
The Dow fell 0.6% on Wednesday, taking a breather after reaching a significant milestone, while traders pored over disappointing unemployment data. Salesforce led the Dow lower, falling more than 5%. The Nasdaq outperformed with a gain of 0.5%. Trading volumes were lighter than usual ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. European markets close little changed as rally stalls. WTI Crude Oil surged back to almost $46 today - its highest in 8 months. The dollar dumps to its weakest against its fiat peers since April 2018.
Macro
The U.S Labor Department said that 778,000 people filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected initial jobless claims to come in at 733,000.