The US dollar dropped to fresh two-and-a-half year lows on Tuesday, with EUR/USD rising above the widely-watched 1.20 handle.
MARKETS
News
• Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Wednesday morning trade after major indexes on Wall Street surged to record highs overnight. Bitcoin is down to $18,500;
• Trading of Xiaomi shares in Hong Kong was suspended on Wednesday morning as the Chinese smartphone maker has raised $3.91 billion as part of a deal that includes the largest top-up placement in Hong Kong;
• Australia’s economy expanded 3.3% in the September quarter. That smashed expectations for a 2.6% rise by economists in a Reuters poll;
• JD Health raises $3.48 billion in Hong Kong’s biggest IPO in 2020;
• Singapore and Hong Kong push back their travel bubble again, this time beyond 2020;
• Attorney-general contradicts Trump’s claims of vast conspiracy to rig the presidential vote;
• US senators announce $908bn stimulus proposal: offer rekindles hopes for deal as Fed chairman Jay Powell appeals for more government support;
• Airbnb looks to raise up to $2.5bn in IPO: Home-rentals business sets price range of its float at between $44 and $50 per share;
• CEO Elon Musk warns Tesla employees the stock will be crushed if they don’t control costs. He also says if rival asked for a merger he’d ‘have that conversation’ but wouldn’t do a hostile takeover;
• Nikola shares see another ugly sell-off as insider lockup period expires: a majority of those shares – 91.6 million – are held by Nikola founder Trevor Milton, who resigned as chairman of the company in September. Shares tanked by 15%.
What Else?
• Covid vaccinations in EU unlikely to start before next year: European regulators due to give opinion on Pfizer/BioNTech shot on December 29 and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) jab on January 12;
• Ray Dalio: "The United States is at a tipping point that could lead to Revolution or Civil War";
• "Superforecasters" now see 90% odds 200 Million Americans will be vaccinated by October;
• A "Titanic Taper Tantrum"? JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) expects bond demand to tumble by $600BN in 2021;
• BlackBerry spikes record 65% after finalizing deal with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) for automotive data software. The software, called IVY, allows automakers to read vehicle sensor data and "create actionable insights" in vehicles and in the cloud;
• Zoom slides 14% as slowing sales-growth forecasts make investors question the stock's 200% post-COVID rally;
• Nio stock gets an upgrade from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS): "In hindsight, we underestimated NIO", Goldman said;
• IBM (NYSE:IBM) slides as Amazon "lays groundwork" for own Quantum Computer.
Earnings update
• Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) shares dropped more than 3% in after hours trading on Tuesday after Salesforce announced it will acquire messaging platform Slack for $27.7 billion. Elsewhere, Salesforce beat on the top and bottom lines of its quarterly results;
• Slack — Shares of Slack rose slightly in extended trading on Tuesday after reporting earnings of one cent per share, compared to the loss of 4 cents per share expected on the Street, according to Refinitiv. Revenue came in at $234 million, topping estimates of $225 million.
Day Ahead
• Earnings: Snowflake; Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS); Splunk;
• Macro: US Fed Chair Powell’s testimony for House of Rep, Australia GDP, Japan consumer confidence, Germany retail sales, BoE FPC meeting, Euro area jobless rate, US ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) job report, Fed Beige Book, Euro area ECB non-monetary policy meeting.
Quote of the day
“My wife Mary and I have been married for forty-seven years and not once have we had an argument serious enough to consider divorce; murder, yes, but divorce, never.” – Jack Benny.
WRAP
U.S. stocks jumped on Tuesday with the S&P 500 hitting a new record, as the market’s historic rally extended to December. The Dow climbed 0.6% while tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.3%, also notching a record close. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) popped 3.1% to lead the 30-stock Dow higher. European markets close higher, following global trend. Italian lender UniCredit fell 8% following the announcement that CEO Jean Pierre Mustier will step down in April. Gold and silver rallied while crude oil lost ground amid OPEC uncertainties.
Sentiment got a lift after a group of lawmakers unveiled a $908 billion stimulus plan, which includes more than $200 billion in Paycheck Protection Program small business loans. The news gave stocks a boost, and pushed the 10-year Treasury yield above 0.9%.