Today the economic calendar is quite rich, in part due to the United States pushing all of its Thursday reports to today since tomorrow the US will celebrate Thanksgiving and the US markets will be closed for the long weekend.
Thus, we expect a long list of reports, mostly from the United States. First, we have the durable goods orders and the revised GDP growth rate for the third quarter. Then, we’re waiting for the weekly unemployment reports, including initial and continuing jobless claims, plus the 4-week average up until the end of last week.
Later in the day we expect some inflation reports, which include the core and full PCE price indices for October.
For more forward guidance, today investors will also pay attention to the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting, and the Michigan report on consumer sentiment, one of the most reliable indicators during the pandemic.
Speaking of which, today the world surpassed 60 million coronavirus infections. The United States is close to 13 million cases, adding over 175,000 new ones yesterday. Other countries with staggering daily increases include India, Brazil, and Russia.
Europe also remains in the throes of the pandemic for now. France and Spain appear to have been successful with their lockdowns, as both countries have managed to bring the number of new cases lower and lower each day, and were both under 10,000 cases yesterday. The same can be said for the United Kingdom. Germany and Italy are struggling some more, but the data is encouraging.
The European Central Bank revised its warning for banks, stating that the situation may be more dangerous than earlier estimated. The bans on dividend payments will most likely stay in place.
For those following the stock market, it might be worth paying attention to major tech stocks such as Amazon and Facebook. France is preparing to levy a higher tax on these companies’ services, which reflect a general trend in the EU to prevent some of the tech giants’ sneakier tax practices.
Otherwise, today US stock indices are cooling down after their massive rally yesterday. We are likely seeing a slight correction, not a change in the trend though. Expect that stocks will continue to do well on Covid-19 vaccine optimism.
