Bitcoin Hits Record High

The price of Bitcoin climbed 8.7% on Monday to reach a fresh record high of $19,857.03 - overtaking its previous peak made in 2017.

MARKETS

News

• Asia stocks rise as the Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for November came in at 54.9 — its highest reading in a decade. Dow futures rise more than 200 points;
• Oil prices slipped on Tuesday amid concerns over mounting supply after leading producers delayed talks on 2021 output policy that could extend production cuts as the coronavirus pandemic continues to sap fuel demand;
• Bitcoin hits all-time high of $19,857, extends year-to-date return to 177%;
• Beijing "unexpectedly" injects $30 Billion into financial system, sparking doubts about true state of China's economy;
• Powell stresses importance of lending programs, calls economic outlook ‘extraordinarily uncertain’;
• Virus surge is leading to a double-dip recession and dollar crash, economist Stephen Roach warns;
• Thailand is set to dominate Southeast Asia’s IPO market in 2020, says Deloitte;
• UAE condemns "Heinous" killing of Iran Scientist in rare break from Israel-Gulf axis;
• First ‘mass air shipment’ of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine arrives in Chicago as airlines prepare for more;
• Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) surged after S&P announced it will add automaker at full float and in one swoop;
• ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) slashes capex and will write off up to $20bn in assets;
• GitLab, a site that helps developers share and manage code, is being valued at more than $6 billion in secondary share sale;
• Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) shares drop after GM scales back plans with start-up: the truck maker kills off Badger pick-up project and will have to reimburse customer deposits.

What Else?

• Biden confirms he wants Janet Yellen to be his Treasury secretary;
• US pending home sales fall for 2nd month as high prices cut into housing-market rally;
• S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) to buy IHS Markit (NYSE:INFO) in $44bn deal;
• Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) climbs 11% after announcing data from UK vaccine trial are expected in early 2021;
• The chances of an Ant Group (HK:6688) IPO in 2021 look decreasingly likely as China looks to overhaul rules and regulations related to the fintech industry, according to a new Bloomberg report. Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), which owns Ant Group, fell as much as 5% on Monday;
• Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) is going to submit its Covid vaccine for US and EU regulatory approval;
• Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) to acquire Kustomer, which specializes in customer-service platforms and chatbots, valued at $1 Billion;
• DoorDash sets IPO terms pushing valuation as high as $32 Billion;
• Spain set to approve budget to increase role of state and taxes: Madrid says it will spend all of the approximately €140bn it is due to get from EU recovery fund;
• Eurozone finance ministers strike deal over bailout fund reform, overcoming opposition from Italy and northern nations on financial backstop for ailing lenders.

Earnings update

• Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:ZM) (ZM) beat expectations for third-quarter earnings and guidance for the quarter ahead. The company now sees 329% in revenue growth in the quarter ahead, representing a slight slowdown compared with previous quarters. Shares fell about 5% in extended trading on Monday.

Day Ahead

• Earnings: Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM); NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP), At Home (NYSE:HOME);
• Macro: Worldwide release of IHS Markit manufacturing PMI , Caixin/IHS Markit China manufacturing PMI, Germany unemployment rate, Italy GDP, Canada GDP, Euro area inflation, US ISM manufacturing PMI, 12th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministeria.

Quote of the day

“Life is hard; it’s harder if you’re stupid.” – John Wayne.

WRAP

Stocks fell on Monday as traders booked some profits given the historically strong gains logged in November. The Dow Jones dropped 0.9% and the S&P 500 fell 0.5%. Energy led the way lower, losing 5.4% for its worst day since June 24. Despite Monday’s losses, the Dow rose 11.8% in November, its best monthly performance since January 1987. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the day down by 0.6% but was still up over 14% on the month, enjoying its best month since records began in 1986. Gold dropped to a five-month low on Monday and recorded its worst month in four years. Bitcoin hit an all-time high near the $20k key level.

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