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© Reuters. By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com – US tech stocks pick up some momentum, but China slips again after Beijing drafts tough new antitrust measures. Oil prices rebound on signs of strong US demand, but watch out for OPEC’s monthly report later. Here’s what you need to know in the financial markets on Wednesday, November 11th.
1. The rise of viruses continues in the US.
The United States broke its records for new Covid-19 cases and, more disturbingly, for hospital admissions as the pandemic continues its seasonal rise.
Nearly 62,000 people are now hospitalized with the virus, and Covid-19 patients account for more than 20% of all hospital beds in the Dakotas and more than 15% in Wisconsin, Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico.
New Jersey tightened its restrictions on businesses after recording its highest number of infections since April. Governor Phil Murphy has ordered non-essential businesses to close after 8 p.m.
In Europe too, hospital capacity is under increasing pressure, especially in France. However, the lockdown measures implemented four weeks ago by Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands are showing clear success in reducing the rate of new infections.
2. China’s tech crisis overshadows Singles’ Day
China’s tech giants continue to suffer after the introduction of new antitrust regulations by Beijing that could restrict their activities in various ways.
China’s State Administration of Market Regulation on Tuesday launched a consultation process on new regulations covering a wide range of online business practices, especially in the way they offer different prices for the same product to different buyers.
Tencent Holdings (HK 🙂 ‘Hong Kong shares have fallen 11% since the regulations were published, while Alibaba (NYSE 🙂 ADRs fell more than 8% on Tuesday and were down another 2% in pre-market trading.
Regulations have overshadowed the predictable record numbers for Alibaba’s annual Singles Day marketing event, which generated more than $ 56 billion in sales in its first hours.
3. Shares will open higher; technology regains its balance
US equity markets are marked to open higher on Wednesday, with US tech names finally rebounding after two days of poor performance following the announcement of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine on Monday. .
At 6:30 am ET (1030 GMT), they were up 227 points, or 0.8%, while they were up 0.9% and up 1.1%. Shares of Apple (NASDAQ 🙂 were up 1.2% the day it launched its new generation of Mac books, with chips that have been developed in-house.
The positive mood is being supported by comments from San Francisco Fed Chair Mary Daly, who said Tuesday night that the Fed is in “intense discussions” about its various asset purchase programs. That has fueled speculation that the Fed will step in to provide some support to the markets as a Congress falters toward the end of its session.
Air Products (NYSE 🙂 leads a shrinking list of companies reporting on Wednesday, as earnings season ends. Lift (NASDAQ 🙂 The stock rose 5.6% after posting better-than-expected earnings Thursday night.
4. China cracks down on Hong Kong amid America’s political vacuum
The foreign policy challenges for the new Biden administration are mounting. Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers resigned en masse after four of their members were ousted under new laws that allowed them to be replaced without a judicial process.
The US response to evidence of further crackdowns in Hong Kong is likely to be hampered by the current Trump administration’s refusal to prepare for the transfer of power. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he expected “a smooth transition from power to a second term.”
Separately, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance asked a US court to extend Thursday’s deadline for selling the video streaming service to a US company, calling the current deadline ” arbitrary and capricious “and complained that the communications of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US stopped during the end of the election campaign.
5. Oil surges in API; OPEC monthly report expiration
Crude oil prices extended their dramatic rally overnight on data showing a much larger than expected drop in US inventories for the second week in a row.
As of 6:35 am ET, futures were up 3.1% at $ 42.62 a barrel, while futures were up 2.9% at $ 44.88 a barrel.
The American Petroleum Institute said Tuesday that crude stocks fell 5.15 million barrels last week, much more than the 900,000 expected.
The API numbers, along with hopes for the demand outlook for 2021 in the wake of Pfizer’s vaccine news, have overshadowed the Energy Information Administration’s downward revision of its forecasts Tuesday. OPEC, to be released at 8 am ET (1300 GMT), will update the cartel’s supply and demand forecasts.
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