Overnight U.S. stocks | The three major indices closed lower this week, Palantir reached a record closing high

According to Zhitong Finance, on Friday, the three major indices fell as the Federal Reserve hinted that it was not in a hurry to continue cutting interest rates, leading the market to reduce bets on a rate cut in December. All three major U.S. stock indices recorded declines this week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.24%, the S&P 500 down 2.08%, and the Nasdaq down 3.15%.

【U.S. Stocks】 At the close, the Dow fell 305.87 points, a decrease of 0.70%, closing at 43,444.99 points; the Nasdaq fell 427.53 points, a decrease of 2.24%, closing at 18,680.12 points; the S&P 500 fell 78.55 points, a decrease of 1.32%, closing at 5,870.62 points. Palantir (PLTR.US) rose 11%, reaching a record closing high, as the company is set to be included in the Nasdaq.

【European Stocks】 The German DAX 30 index fell 25.18 points, a decrease of 0.13%, closing at 19,217.55 points; the UK FTSE 100 index fell 6.95 points, a decrease of 0.09%, closing at 8,064.24 points; the French CAC 40 index fell 42.17 points, a decrease of 0.58%, closing at 7,269.63 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 38.18 points, a decrease of 0.79%, closing at 4,795.35 points; the Spanish IBEX 35 index rose 107.33 points, an increase of 0.93%, closing at 11,631.63 points; the Italian FTSE MIB index fell 169.16 points, a decrease of 0.49%, closing at 34,189.00 points.

【Asia-Pacific Stock Markets】 The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.28%, the Jakarta Composite Index in Indonesia fell 0.74%, and the KOSPI index in South Korea slightly declined.

【Cryptocurrency】 Bitcoin rose over 4.6%, trading at $91,334.37 per coin; Ethereum rose over 1.6%, trading at $3,107.84 per coin.

【Gold】 Spot gold fell 0.12%, trading at $2,561.72 per ounce, with a cumulative decline of 4.58% this week, marking the largest weekly drop since June 2021. During the week of June 18, 2021, it fell over 6.038% to $1,764.16. Fund managers' long positions in gold have dropped to a more than three-month low, as Donald Trump's decisive victory in the election reduced the demand for gold as a safe haven. Weekly data released by the U.S. government on Friday showed that as of November 12, hedge funds and other large speculators reduced their net long positions by 11% to 197,362, the lowest in 14 weeks. Gold has fallen about 8% from its record high set on October 31, with the decline accelerating after Donald Trump won the election last week.

【Crude Oil】 U.S. WTI crude oil futures fell 2.4% on Friday, bringing the cumulative decline for the week to 7.4%. Concerns about oversupply in the crude oil market have put pressure on oil prices. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.68, or 2.44%, closing at $67.02 per barrel, with a cumulative decline of 7.38% this week.

【Metals】 London metals were mixed, with copper down 0.61% and nickel down over 1.5%; aluminum rose over 5%, and zinc rose 0.44% [Macroeconomic News]

U.S. October Retail Sales Exceed Expectations, but Economists Remain Cautious About the Report. U.S. October retail sales were better than expected, providing additional assurance about the health of American consumers as they enter the important holiday season. Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X, believes that this data may be more relevant for the Federal Reserve and investors than the CPI released on Wednesday: "Given the slight softness in the labor market, consumer health is a key issue for the upcoming earnings season and potential tariff increases." However, some economists are concerned that the slowdown in October sales was greater than expected. Bank of America economist Aditya Bhave stated that discretionary spending in states affected by Hurricane "Milton" decreased, and unfavorable seasonal adjustments may have actually led to a decline in retail sales. Citigroup economists, led by Gisela Hoxha, also expressed caution regarding the report, noting that spending on Citibank credit cards in certain retail categories fell by 1.65% compared to the previous month, suggesting that the report will reflect more moderate consumption. Hoxha wrote, "We still expect the labor market to weaken in the coming months, which will drag down consumption."

U.S. Import Price Index Unexpectedly Rises in October, Progress Against Inflation Stalls. The U.S. import price index unexpectedly rose in October due to higher fuel and other commodity prices, marking the latest sign of stalled progress in curbing inflation in recent months. The U.S. import price index rebounded by 0.3% in October after a revised 0.4% decline in September, exceeding market expectations of a 0.1% decrease; the year-on-year increase was 0.8%, higher than the expected 0.3%, with the previous value showing a 0.1% decline. In October, import fuel prices rose by 1.5% after two consecutive months of decline, while food prices fell by 1.6%, marking a third consecutive month of decline. Excluding fuel and food, import prices rose by 0.4% after a 0.3% increase in September. Core import prices rose by 2.2% year-on-year in October. Government data released this week indicated that progress in reducing the inflation rate to the 2% target has essentially stalled. Consumer prices rose by 0.2% for the fourth consecutive month in October, while producer prices also increased by 0.2%. Coupled with the expectation that the incoming Trump administration will impose tariffs on imported goods, economists believe that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates four times in 2025 as policymakers predicted in September.

Federal Reserve's Goolsbee: Will Continue to Refer to September Dot Plot and Should Slow Down as Approaching Neutral Rate. Federal Reserve's Goolsbee stated that they will refer to the Federal Reserve's September dot plot when considering interest rate cuts. Personally, he prefers not to move directly toward the neutral rate and believes that the pace should slow down as they approach the neutral rate, which is significantly lower than the current level of the Federal Reserve's policy rate. In the Federal Reserve's policy considerations, any matter is always open for discussion. He also mentioned that inflation data must continue to improve, and if a reversal in the inflation process is observed, it must be determined whether it is just a temporary fluctuation. There has not been much change in this regard over the past few weeks However, recent inflation is slightly above the target level, and if this situation continues, the (long-term) inflation level will be too high.

【Individual Stock News】

McDonald's (MCD.US) will spend $100 million to address the E. coli outbreak and support sales and franchisees. Following the E. coli incident, McDonald's will invest $100 million to boost sales and support franchisees. A memo to employees and franchisees indicates that McDonald's has restored the Big Mac with onion slices to the national menu and is investing $35 million in marketing and advertising. Additionally, McDonald's revealed that it is spending $65 million to support franchisee projects, such as deferred payments for rent and royalties.

Elon Musk's xAI raises $6 billion to purchase 100,000 NVIDIA (NVDA.US) chips to enhance supercomputing centers. According to foreign media reports, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI has raised up to $6 billion at a valuation of $50 billion. Sources say this financing is expected to be completed early next week, with $5 billion coming from sovereign funds in the Middle East and $1 billion from other investors, some of whom may wish to invest further. According to insiders, the funds will be used to purchase 100,000 NVIDIA (NVDA.O) chips to enhance the Memphis cloud cluster. Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) is expected to rely on the new Memphis supercomputer.

Nio (NIO.US) announces business operations in Azerbaijan. Nio has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with partner Green Car to officially launch operations in Azerbaijan, providing local users with smart electric vehicle products and services. According to the agreement, Green Car will become Nio's national general agent in Azerbaijan, serving local users through direct sales. Under Nio's comprehensive standard guidelines, Green Car will operate locally around products, services, and community, and will be responsible for investing in and constructing Nio's charging and battery swap stations, service centers, and Nio centers as part of the sales and service network; Nio will develop and authorize Green Car to use Nio's official website and mobile applications in Azerbaijan, ensuring consistency in the global user experience. Nio will officially commence product deliveries in Azerbaijan in the second quarter of 2025