On Wednesday, tech stocks saw growth after the release of the FOMC Minutes that stressed the importance of adjusting the pace of QE taper.
The S&P 500 gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq 100 added 0.1%. Trading volume was below average in the United States ahead of Thanksgiving. The greenback soared to the high unseen since July 2020. The US 2-year Treasury bond yield added 2 basis points.
"We have to be careful here about the risk burden. We want to have some cyclicality to play this continued rebound and this continued development of the recovery here, but we just want to slow down a little bit," Emily Roland, co-chief Investment Strategist at John Hancock Investment Management, said.
US personal spending jumped in October from the previous month, beating market expectations, while inflation accelerated to the 30-year high. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to 199,000 in the week ending November 20th. It was the lowest number since November 1969. Meanwhile, orders placed with US factories for business equipment came above market expectations in October, indicating a solid momentum for capital expenditures early in the fourth quarter.
"There are hints that the job market is pretty good in today's numbers. If there are signs that the job market is going to heal itself faster than let's say than the second half of next year, rate hikes are going to be live," Marvin Loh, senior global market strategist at State Street Global Markets, emphasized.
Policymakers are now focused on ways to damp inflation while winding down Covid-19 stimulus. At the same time, Europe is facing the risk of another lockdown as infection cases surge.
Several key events on Thursday:
- BOK's Interest Rate Decision
- Thanksgiving in the US: US stock and bond markets are closed
- BoE's Andrew Bailey speaks with Mohamed El Erian at a Cambridge Union event
- ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks
