MARKET SNAPSHOT
U.S. stocks ended mixed, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closing at record highs, as investors raised bets on a December rate cut by the Fed. Treasury yields finished mostly higher ahead of a no-confidence vote in France. Oil posted the biggest gains in two weeks on expectations that OPEC+ will extend production cuts. Gold rose for the ninth time in 11 sessions.
MARKET WRAPS
EQUITIES
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit new records, as investors grew more confident that the Federal Reserve is heading toward an interest-rate cut in two weeks.
Fed-funds futures indicate traders now see a 71% chance of another 0.25 percentage point cut in December, up from 59% a week ago. That would mark a third consecutive decrease and would take rates down by a 1 percentage point in 2024.
The S&P 500 added less than 0.1%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down 0.2%.
Meanwhile, money managers eyed political turmoil overseas. New York-listed South Korean securities fell and the won tumbled, after South Korea's president declared martial law. In Europe, France's far-right's Marine Le Pen has said she is prepared to back a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
Earlier Tuesday, Chinese shares closed mixed as investors await the central economic work conference this month. At the meeting, where Chinese leaders will decide on economic priorities for 2025, focus will be on any fiscal stimulus announcement and signals on next year's growth target.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.4%, the Shenzhen Composite Index closed 0.1% lower, while the ChiNext Price Index fell 0.4%. Auto and bank stocks advanced.
Hong Kong shares ended higher, with the Hang Seng Index rising 1%. Investor sentiment was boosted by expectations of China's potential economic stimulus measures, UOB analysts said in a commentary. Bank stocks led gains.
Japanese stocks rose, led by gains in electronics and machinery stocks, as signs of U.S. economic improvement raise hopes for earnings growth. The Nikkei Stock Average added 1.9%.
Stocks in Australia also gained, as the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index added 0.6%, the second consecutive day of increases.
New Zealand's NZX-50 closed 0.2% lower, pulled into the red by weakness among shares of utilities.
COMMODITIES
Oil futures scored their largest one-day gains in about two weeks as some traders expect the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to further delay a partial unwinding of production cuts.
West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery rose 2.7% to settle at $69.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. February Brent crude climbed 2.5% to $73.62 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
OPEC+ ministers are set to meet Thursday after a meeting that had been set for Dec. 1 was postponed.
"I'm cautious not to overinterpret the OPEC delays, which seem tied to scheduling conflicts with the 45th Gulf Summit in Kuwait," Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said. "The consensus on [Wall Street] is still that plans to increase oil supply will likely be postponed for another month, or possibly even two or three months, to gauge the U.S. oil patch's response to Trump's 'drill, baby, drill' policy."
Front-month gold carried strength seen late last month into Tuesday's trading, with the contract closing up 0.4% to $2,644.70 an ounce.
That makes it nine out of the past 11 sessions that front-month gold closed higher, and 28% that gold has risen year-to-date.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
South Korea President to Lift Martial Law After Parliament Rejects Move
SEOUL-South Korea's president said he would lift his martial-law declaration after Parliament voted against the measure, rejecting his claim that political opponents had made the nation vulnerable to North Korea.
President Yoon Suk Yeol's address at roughly 4 a.m. local time put an end to what had been a tense night sparked by his earlier announcement. Lawmakers scaled fences and made their way past armed guards to enter the country's National Assembly in downtown Seoul, voting 190-to-0 against the measure early Wednesday morning. Martial law had been declared more than two hours earlier, taking effect at 11 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
The stunning series of events came as Yoon's approval ratings hit fresh lows amid a bitter budget showdown with the opposition and infighting over political scandals inside his own conservative People Power Party. On Tuesday, Yoon accused opposition parties of holding the South Korean parliamentary process hostage and posing a threat to the country's constitutional order.
U.S. Job Openings Increased in October
Job openings in the U.S. increased in October, bucking a trend of falling vacancies for most of the past two years.
The number of openings on the last day of October was 7.7 million, up from a revised 7.4 million in September, the Labor Department said Tuesday in its latest job openings and labor turnover survey, or Jolts.
October hiring totaled 5.3 million, a reduction compared with 5.6 million in September. Layoffs declined to 1.6 million, versus 1.8 million a month earlier.
Fed's Kugler Says Immigration, Productivity Gains Have Strengthened Economy
Federal Reserve Gov. Adriana Kugler said Tuesday that a tide of new immigrant workers and a rise in labor productivity have strengthened the U.S. economy, and noted that she and her Fed colleagues are still moving their policy stance from restrictive to neutral.
Kugler's published remarks, given at the Detroit Economic Club in Michigan, described the economy as being in a "good position," with "significant progress in recent years toward our dual-mandate goals of maximum employment and stable prices." Kugler did not directly touch on her view of whether the Fed should continue to cut interest rates at its next meeting on Dec. 17-18.
She said two positive trends over the past few years have allowed the economy to perform better than expected, despite the drag of the Fed's sharp interest-rate increases starting in 2022.
Salesforce Earnings Miss Estimates But Revenue Beats. The Stock Is Rising.
Salesforce earnings came in below Wall Street estimates for the company's latest quarter, but revenue exceeded expectations. The stock surged in after-hours trading on the report.
Late Tuesday, Salesforce reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.41 a share, which was below analyst estimates of $2.44 a share, according to FactSet. Revenue for the quarter of $9.44 billion came in above expectations of $9.35 billion.
The company said it now expects fiscal 2025 revenue to be between $37.8 billion to $38 billion. Salesforce previously guided for revenue of $37.7 billion to $38 billion.
Agricultural Giant Cargill to Lay Off Thousands of Workers
Cargill said it is laying off 5% of its global workforce, roughly 8,000 workers, as the agricultural giant deals with tepid crop prices and pressure on the beef industry.
In a statement, Cargill said the move was part of its efforts to align talent and resources with a long-term strategy set earlier this year. The Minneapolis-based company has over 160,000 employees operating in 70 countries, according to its website.
Cargill, one of the world's biggest food suppliers, buys crops from farmers, trades commodities and processes meat. The nearly 160-year-old company makes products ranging from animal feed to chocolate.
BlackRock Strikes $12 Billion Deal for HPS, Betting Big on Wall Street's Hottest Market
BlackRock has agreed to buy private-credit manager HPS Investment Partners in a roughly $12 billion all-stock deal that would substantially add to its coveted private-asset pile.
The acquisition would give Chief Executive Larry Fink a significant foothold in what is now one of the hottest markets on Wall Street. Fink has given priority to expanding BlackRock's private-market business through acquisitions in an effort to keep more of its clients' business in-house and generate higher fees.
New York-based HPS was founded in 2007 by three former Goldman Sachs employees, including investment banking head Scott Kapnick. Its once obscure business of lending directly to companies has boomed in recent years while banks have pulled back from risky lending. Kapnick is among the HPS leaders who will join BlackRock's global executive committee once the deal closes.
Expected Major Events for Wednesday
00:30/HK: Nov Hong Kong Whole Economy PMI
00:30/JPN: Nov Japan Services PMI
00:30/SIN: Nov Singapore Whole Economy PMI
00:30/AUS: 3Q GDP
01:00/AUS: Nov VFACTS vehicle sales
01:45/CHN: Nov China Services PMI
21:45/NZ: 3Q Value of Building Work Put in Place
23:00/SKA: 3Q Revised GDP / Preliminary Gross National Income
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 03, 2024 16:40 ET (21:40 GMT)
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