Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Friday, November 24:
1. Online shopping surges 17% to $1.52 billion
The biggest shopping weekend of the year in the U.S. kicked off “officially” on Thursday evening with online sales jumping 16.8% to over $1.52 billion by the evening, according to Adobe Analytics.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects 164 million Americans, 69% of the population, to take advantage of Black Friday deals.
Of those considering shopping the long holiday weekend, the NRF survey found that 20% had planned to shop on Thanksgiving Day (32 million) but Black Friday will remain the busiest day with 70% planning to shop then (115 million).
With many retailers having cited the “tough retail environment” in third quarter earnings and forecasts, markets will be keeping an eye on brick and mortar stores to see how they stock up against the online onslaught.
2. World stocks hover near record highs as Wall Street reopens
World stocks hovered near record highs on Friday as Wall Street was set to reopen its doors after Thanksgiving. Trading is expected to be thin given the long holiday weekend with many investors opting to skip the half day of trading on Friday. NYSE closes early at 1:00PM ET (18:00GMT) Friday. U.S. futures were tracking small gains. At 5:59AM ET (10:59GMT), the blue-chip Dow futures rose by 27 points, or 0.11%, S&P 500 futures gained 4 points, or 0.16%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 6 points, or 0.10%.
Elsewhere, European stocks traded mostly higher on Friday, underpinned by gains among heavyweight consumer goods firms and a positive read on German business confidence.
Earlier, Asian shares saw mixed trade, although the Shanghai Composite eked out a small recovery after plummeting a day earlier. Japan’s Nikkei closed about 0.1% higher on Friday as traders returned from the prior day’s holiday.
3. Dollar heads for weekly losses ahead of PMI data
The dollar was hovering at a fresh one-month low against other major currencies in quiet trade on Friday. At 6:00AM ET (11:00GMT), the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was off just 0.04% at 93.00, on track for weekly losses of around 0.6%.
The fact that the Fed minutes revealed this week that “many participants” showed concern over the inflation outlook, mirroring recent remarks by outgoing Fed chair Janet Yellen that it was “very uncertain”, sparked speculation that the future path of tightening may not be as aggressive as originally thought and dampened demand for the greenback.
The dollar held close to the unchanged mark on Friday as investors looked ahead to preliminary data on November activity in the manufacturing and services sectors of the U.S. economy to be released by Markit at 9:45AM ET (14:45GMT).
4. U.S. crude on track for weekly 4% rise while waiting for cut extension confirmation
West Texas Intermediate oil hit fresh two-and-half year highs on Friday and was on track for weekly gains of around 3.6% as North American markets tightened on the partial closure of the Keystone pipeline connecting Canadian oilfields with the U.S.
Investors also turned their attention to next week’s meeting of major oil producers in Vienna on November 30. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC members led by Russia are widely expected to announce an extension to their pact to curb production through the end of 2018 from the current deadline of March.
At 6:01AM ET (11:01GMT) Friday, U.S. crude oil futures jumped 1.10% to $58.66, while Brent oil traded up 0.16% to $63.65.
5. UK consumer confidence hits Brexit low; German firms’ sentiment soars
British consumers entered the doldrums as they fret over the future outcome of Brexit negotiations with the European Union. A YouGov survey showed that their monthly consumer confidence fell sharply to 106.6, its lowest level since just after the referendum that decided the UK would leave the EU.
To the contrary, a survey of German business confidence soared to a record high in November as they celebrated strong growth in the motor of the euro zone economy. Despite the euphoria, it should be noted that 90% of the responses were obtained prior to the news that talks to form a three-way coalition broke down.