Global equities head towards big gains

Major Wall Street indexes notched weekly gains on Friday, as global equities drifted toward their biggest one-month rally since November 2020 during a shortened, muted trading session following the US Thanksgiving holiday.

Oil futures traded steady ahead of next week’s OPEC+ meeting, which could bring some kind of agreement on output cuts in 2024.

Gold futures finished higher as the dollar index slipped against a basket of currencies on Friday.

Data showed US business activity held steady in November, but employment in the private sector declined.

Read: Wall Street ends quarter with broad rally

MSCI’s index of global shares added 0.12% and headed for a monthly gain of 8.7% after investors grew increasingly confident that US interest rates have peaked, with the market narrative shifting to the timing of cuts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 117.12 points, or 0.33%, to 35,390.15, the S&P 500 gained 2.72 points, or 0.06%, at 4,559.34 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 15.00 points, or 0.11%, to 14,250.86.

Europe’s benchmark STOXX 600 gained 0.4% on Friday to close higher for a second straight week, while investors assessed data from Germany for clues about the country’s economic outlook. Germany’s DAX closed up 0.2%.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2023.

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