Macro Scenes:
- A broad-based rally: Wall Street continued to climb, with Nasdaq extending a ten-day winning streak and the S&P 500 less than 1% from its all-time high. Dow kept refreshing its record high, thanks to the broad-based rally. All the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 finished higher, with Energy leading gains.
- The Fear & Greed Index reaches “Extreme Greed”: With the US stock markets hovering around their all-time highs, the CNN Fear & Greed Index turned into the “Extreme Greed” category, which usually indicates the rally may have been overdone. The CBOE Volatility Index remained at a low of just above 12, signalling an oversold potential.
- The US dollar down: The US dollar weakened against most major currencies along with a further slide in the US government bond yields as markets continued to price in rate cuts in 2024.
- Crude oil and gas continued rebounding: Crude oil and natural gas rose for the fifth-straight trading day amid the Red Sea incident. With more shipments redirecting through southern Africa, higher freight rates may lift commodity prices and inflation.
- The Japanese Yen weakened: USD/JPY jumped more than 100 points to nearly 144 after BOJ kept its ultra-lose monetary policy unchanged without signalling the end of the negative interest rate next year. The momentum could take the pair to further test 146, which is a potential key resistance.
- Asian markets to open mixed: The Australian stock markets accelerated the upside movement, thanks to the sharp rebound in mining stocks due to the comeback of base metal prices. ASX 200 futures rose 0.77%, the Hang Seng Index futures were up 1.26%, and Nikkei 225 futures rose 0.55%.
