To begin their trading day, investors should be aware of the following key news items:
1. Sleeping in and getting lost
For the Dow and the S&P 500, it makes three days in a row of losses. Despite the little losses on Wednesday, equities are in a bit of a slump following the significant gain in November. Also slightly lower on Wednesday was the Nasdaq.
2. Slippers made of oil
Not all assets are declining at the moment, just stocks. Wednesday saw a 4% decline in West Texas intermediate crude oil prices to less than $70 per barrel, the lowest since late June. The drops occur at the same time that OPEC+’s oil-producing members indicate they plan to keep cutting production or maybe expand it. As a result, the price of petrol has also decreased, reaching its lowest level since January. As Americans prepare for their upcoming travels later this month and shop for the holidays, it should provide them some relief.
3. Main Street references Wall Street
The largest Wall Street bank CEOs campaigned on Capitol Hill on Wednesday against new capital regulations that were being considered. To support their position, they leaned towards Main Street. Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser invoked the heartland when she said that the regulations would make it more difficult for farmers to get financing. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon argued before the Senate Banking Committee that the rules, known as the Basel 3 endgame, would make mortgages and small-business loans more expensive.
4. The query from the client
Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart, says that consumers are doing better than anticipated these days as they visit malls and big-box stores to shop for Christmas gifts. However, it remains uncertain what will occur in 2024. He told CNBC’s Sara Eisen in an interview that “next year’s a different story” and that “if we had been discussing last spring or at the beginning of last year, I expected greater softening by this time of the year than we’re really witnessing.”
5. A fresh agreement
Tuesday marked AbbVie’s second significant acquisition in as many weeks as it revealed its agreement to acquire Cerevel Therapeutics for an estimated $8.7 billion. The pharmaceutical behemoth just finalised a deal to pay close to $10 billion to acquire Immunogen, a producer of cancer treatments. According to CNBC’s Annika Kim Constantino, the purchases come as AbbVie attempts to broaden its therapeutic pipeline as generic medications compete with products like its arthritis therapy Humira.
Source (CNBC)
