CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Tue Nov 26th, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
U.S. Dollar Index, +0.03%, 98.29
USDJPY, +0.25%, $109.00
EURUSD, -0.11%, $1.1011
GBPUSD, +0.35%, $1.2896
USDCAD, +0.05%, $1.3304
AUDUSD, -0.22%, $0.6776
NZDUSD, +0.10%, $0.6415
Press reports indicated that Chinese government officials called to increase penalties on IP theft, which was interpreted as a move that could help strike a Phase One deal. It should be noted that a separate report from Reuters that suggested a Phase Two deal before the 2020 election is unlikely to be reached did not have a noticeable effect on the market.
U.S. Treasuries finished the session on a higher note despite the risk sentiment displayed in the stock market. The 2-yr yield declined two basis points to 1.61%, and the 10-yr yield declined one basis point to 1.76%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.03% to 98.29. WTI crude increased 0.2%, or $0.10, to $57.98/bbl.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, +0.75%, 3,133.64
Nasdaq, +1.32%, 8,519.88
Nikkei Futures, +0.69%, 23,458.0
U.S. stocks rallied on Monday to lift the S&P 500 (+0.75%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.32%), and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.7%) to new closing records, as investors reacted positively to Chinese efforts to better protect intellectual property rights. Sizable M&A activity across several sectors also supported risk sentiment.
The S&P 500 information technology sector (+1.4%), which typically outperforms when the prevailing view on trade is positive, led all sectors in gains amid strength in the semiconductor stocks. NVIDIA (NVDA 221.21, +10.32, +4.9%) was a notable gainer after the stock was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.4%.
Two of yesterday’s M&A deals were ones that were already on the market’s radar: Charles Schwab (SCHW 49.31, +1.11, +2.3%) agreed to acquire TD Ameritrade (AMTD 51.78, +3.65, +7.6%) for $26 billion in an all-stock transaction, and LVMH (LVMUY 89.37, +1.98, +2.3%) agreed to acquire Tiffany & Co. (TIF 133.25, +7.74, +6.2%) for $16.2 billion in cash.
New deals included Novartis (NVS 91.30, +0.82, +0.9%) agreeing to acquire The Medicines Co. (MDCO 83.80, +15.25, +22.3%) for $9.7 billion in cash and eBay (EBAY 35.85, +0.73, +2.1%) agreeing to sell StubHub to Viagogo for $4.05 billion in cash.