1. On November 29 (Friday), the futures of the three major US stock indexes rose sharply before the US stock market. As of press release, Dow futures were up 0.10%, S&P 500 futures were up 0.32%, and NASDAQ futures were up 0.40%.

2. As of press release, the German DAX index rose 0.23%, the UK FTSE 100 index fell 0.07%, the French CAC40 index rose 0.10%, and the European Stoxx 50 index rose 0.06%.

3. As of press release, WTI crude oil fell 0.39% to $68.45 per barrel. Brent crude fell 0.73% to $72.25 per barrel.

Market news

November 29 (Friday) is the day after Thanksgiving. US stocks will be closed 3 hours early, that is, before 02:00 Beijing time the next day.

US retailers are preparing to welcome Black Friday, and consumers remain cautious. After the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, retailers are preparing to open their doors at 5 a.m., and they hope that even though the time is short, more consumers can complete their shopping list. The American Retail Federation predicts that around 85.6 million shoppers will visit stores this year, up from 76 million on Black Friday last year. But shoppers only had 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and last year, they had 31 more laid-back days. What puts even more pressure on retailers is that inflation-weary shoppers aren't willing to splurge unless they can get a bargain. Although most US retailers close their doors on Thanksgiving Day, J.C. Penney will open their doors at 5 a.m. on Friday morning to allow shoppers to start their holiday shopping early. Best Buy, Lowe's, and Home Depot will open their doors at 6 a.m., and Costco, TJ Maxx, Ikea, and Sephora will open their doors from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Trump's deal “stalled,” and the dollar may have its worst weekly performance since August. The dollar is heading for its biggest weekly decline in 3 months as investors begin to rethink the so-called Trump deal. The Bloomberg dollar index fell 0.2% on Friday, and this week's decline extended to 1.1%. The dollar fell against all G10 currencies other than the Canadian dollar this week, with the dollar falling the most against the yen. US President-elect Donald Trump's tariff threats disrupted financial markets, but Scott Bessent was nominated as the next US Treasury Secretary, causing US yields to fall and the dollar's rise to a standstill. Before the dollar fell back, the dollar long position index climbed to a high level of more than a year, which suggests that a pullback may be long overdue.

Bezent faces many tests! Trump's Treasury honeymoon period may end in four ways. Wall Street's initial assessment of Trump's Treasury candidate Scott Bessent (Scott Bessent) was positive, but now the hard part begins. Over the next few months, Bezent may face huge hurdles. His job is to both appease the market and promote Trump's unorthodox plans. Due to drug and illegal immigration issues, President-elect Trump suddenly announced a 25% tariff on “all products” from Mexico and Canada on Monday night and a new 10% tariff on China on his first day in office, highlighting this difficult task. If he continues to implement these two initiatives after taking office, it could destabilize importers who want to introduce tariffs more gradually, and Bezent's recent comments on tariffs and the Federal Reserve may exacerbate his task.

Barclays joined the Wall Street bandwagon, predicting that the S&P 500 will rise to 6,600 points next year. Barclays said that against the backdrop of economic recovery and strong corporate profits, the US stock market will continue to rise next year. The bank expects the S&P 500 to rise 10% to 6,600 points, joining the bullish predictions of top analysts. They expect the index's rise to be slightly slower than the 26% increase this year. Barclays strategists, led by Venu Krishna, the company's head of US stock strategy, predict that the S&P index will rise another 10% to 6,600 points next year, driven by strong tech companies' profit growth and economic flexibility. Their predictions indicate that the index's rise next year will slow down from the 26% increase it has accumulated since this year, but they are optimistic that the economic environment will continue to support the stock market.

Hot money is pouring in! The US Bitcoin ETF is expected to set a record monthly inflow. Bitcoin is a digital asset historically approaching the 0.1 million dollar mark due to US President-designate Trump's support for cryptocurrencies. At the same time, 12 US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are about to usher in a record monthly net inflow. As of November, ETFs from issuers such as BlackRock and Fidelity Investments had attracted 6.2 billion dollars, according to the data. The last peak of $6 billion was in February of this year, when investors were excited about the launch of these products at the beginning of the year. A week ago, Bitcoin first approached the $0.1 million milestone. For example, this mark was only $300 short, thanks to Trump's promise to lift the Biden administration's regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrencies and establish friendly regulators. Trump also supports the establishment of America's original strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies.

Individual stock news

The number of MNSO.US (MNSO.US) stores worldwide exceeded 7,400, and revenue for the first three quarters increased 23% year over year. Mingchuang Premium's total revenue for the third quarter increased 19.3% year over year to 4.52 billion yuan, and gross margin was 44.9%, up 3.1 percentage points from the same period last year, once again reaching a record high. Mingchuang Premium Group's performance development for the first three quarters of 2024 is in line with the 2024-2028 five-year plan expectations. In the first three quarters, Mingchuang Premium Group's total revenue was 12.28 billion yuan, up 22.8% year on year, and overseas business revenue exceeded 4.5 billion yuan, up 41% year on year. Adjusted net profit was 1.93 billion yuan, and the adjusted net interest rate was 15.7%. The number of Group stores worldwide has reached 7,420, with a net increase of 859 year-to-date. Among them, MINISO's overseas and TOPTOY's net increases in the first three quarters have each exceeded that of last year.

Canadian antitrust regulator sues Google (GOOGL.US): the online advertising business is suspected of anti-competitive behavior. Canada's antitrust regulator said on Thursday that it is suing tech giant Google's online advertising business for suspected anti-competitive behavior and wants the company to sell two of its advertising technology tools and pay fines. The Canadian Competition Authority said such action was necessary because an investigation into Google found that the company “illegally” bundled its advertising technology tools to maintain its dominant position in the market. The Canadian Competition Authority has applied to the Competition Tribunal (Competition Tribunal) to order Google to sell its publisher ad server DoubleClick for Publishers and ad trading platform ADX.

The new AstraZeneca (AZN.US) Class 1 drug has been clinically approved for the first time in China to be developed to treat heart failure. Today (November 29), the official website of the China Drug Administration's Drug Evaluation Center (CDE) recently announced that the new class 1 drug AZD5462 tablets declared by AstraZeneca (AZN.US) have obtained implied clinical trial approval to be developed to treat heart failure. According to AstraZeneca's official website, this is an RXFP1 agonist small molecule drug that is currently undergoing phase 2 clinical research internationally. As can be seen from the CDE website, this is the first time that the drug has been clinically approved in China.

Key economic data and event forecasts

22:45 Beijing time: US November Chicago PMI