- US November trade balance -56.8B vs -40.5B expected
- US initial jobless claims 209K vs 205K expected
- Atlanta Fed GDPNow 4.2% vs 5.4% previously
- Trump says he will work in a bipartisan way to avoid US government shutdown
- Trump says Fed chair decision coming next week
- It's the seventh-worst day in MSFT stock history
- US November factory orders +2.7% vs +1.6% expected
- BOC governor Macklem says there is no easy way to manage uncertainty from Trump policies
Markets:
- Gold flat at $5400
- US 10-year yields down 2.2 bps to 4.23%
- WTI crude oil up $2.65 to $65.86
- Bitcoin down $5600 to $83,688
- CAD leads, GBP lags
- S&P 500 down 33 points to 6944
It was a crazy day in the gold market as we got a new record at $5575 in Asia followed by an incredible rout in US trading in a swift move to $5100 in about 30 minutes. It wasn't done there as gold bounced and then slowly formed a base to climbe all the way to $5400 late in the day to finish virtually flat. Silver went on a similarly wild ride.
When gold broke down we also saw a big wave of US dollar buying but that also proved mostly fleeting in volatile trade.
It was no different in stock markets as Meta rose 10% and Microsoft fell by 12% in its seventh-worst day ever. Both the moves followed earnings reports that weren't all that surprising. The intense volatility across asset classes speaks to leverage and an uncertain market.
Economic data added to the questions as the US trade deficit in November nearly doubled, leading to a rapid drop in the Atlanta Fed GDPNow tracker.
Eyes are on Congres as well for another potential shutdown on the weekend. A vote in the Senate failed today but negotiatins continued and Trump highlighted bipartisan negotiations, saying he didn't want a shutdown. That's different rhetoric than in the autumn, when he seemingly wanted a long shutdown.
Earnings after the bell include Apple and Visa.
