Written by Gary
Opening Market Commentary For 11-29-2013
Gary is off today, and the opening market commentary comes from our syndication partner Investing.com/
U.S. stocks opened higher after the Thanksgiving holiday.
With no major earnings reports or economic data due during the session, investors were preparing to monitor how one of the key shopping days of the year known as “Black Friday” – the Friday after Thanksgiving – unfolds.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.29%, the S&P 500 index added 0.21%, while the Nasdaq Composite index climbed 0.47%.
Retailers were expected to be active for the what is considered to be the biggest shopping day of the Chirstmas holiday season in the U.S. Wal-Mart shares rose 0.32% at the open of the U.S. trading session, and Best Buy rallied 1.19%, while Macy’s and J.C. Penney gained 0.37% and 1.59% respectively.
Asian shares traded mixed on Friday as Japanese shares eased from a six-year high this week in thin trade following the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
The Nikkei 225 index was down 0.07%, after closing Thursday at its highest level since December 2007, with some volatility in the exchange rate following a slew of data releases swaying sentiment, though the currency has weakened nearly 4% this month.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.2% and the Shanghai Composite ended the morning up 0.03%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3% while Korea’s Kospi Composite traded flat.
European stocks opened slightly higher on Friday, as markets were eyeing euro zone inflation later in the day, as well as ratings changes from Standard & Poor’s credit ratings agency.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 edged 0.08% higher, France’s CAC 40 added 0.08%, while Germany’s DAX 30 inched up 0.02%.
Investors were eyeing upcoming preliminary euro zone inflation data, amid expectations that the annual rate of inflation would rise to 0.8% in November, from October’s four year low of 0.7%.
Concerns over mounting deflationary pressures in the euro area prompted the European Central Bank to cut interest rates to a record low 0.25% at its November meeting.
Meanwhile, S&P lowered its credit rating for the Netherlands to “AA plus” from “AAA”, while lifting its outlook for Spain and Cyprus.
The ratings agency raised its credit rating for Cyprus to “B-/B” from “CCC plus/C” and revised its credit ratings outlook for Spain to stable from negative.
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Written by Gary
