As the North American session begins, the AUD is the strongest and the JPY is the weakest. The USD is mixed with little change vs most of the major currencies. The JPY is the biggest gainer (0.15%) and the largest decline is the AUD (-0.21%). It is the day before the Thanksgiving Day holiday in the US, so perhaps traders have "dialed it in". The major currencies - in general - are relatively stable. Looking at the all the major currency pairs, the USDJPY low to high trading range of 133 pips is the only one which has reached it's 22 day average trading range for the day (is about a month ago trading). Most of the other pairs are 65% or lower.The EURUSD is at 55% of the average. The USDCAD is 0.49% and the GBPUSD is just 0.47% of the average.
The OpenAI saga has finished its down and up lap. Sam Altman has been reinstated as the chief executive of OpenAI shortly after his dismissal, marking a significant turnaround in the company's recent turbulent leadership dynamics. This development follows a heated conflict within OpenAI's boardroom, raising concerns about the future of the company and its AI chatbot, ChatGPT. OpenAI announced Altman's return on social media, along with the comeback of co-founder Greg Brockman. The new arrangement places Altman under the oversight of a reformed board (including former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers). Adam D'Angelo, a current board member and CEO of Quora, will also continue his role. This decision comes in the wake of strong opposition from OpenAI staff and investors to Altman's ousting, with as many as 700 employees threatening to leave for Microsoft (Salesforce had an open invitation to any employees as well). Microsoft has a 49% ownership interest in the company so they had an economic interest one way or the other. Microsoft shares are trading up 1.20% in premarket trading.
Nividia announced earnings after the close and although they reported much higher earnings ($4.02 vs. $3.36) and revenues ($18.12B vs $16.19B) The data center reached $14.5B which was a 279% gain from a year ago. However, It was not all unicorns and rainbows. Nvidia anticipates a significant drop in sales in its crucial Chinese market for the current quarter, following the Biden administration's recent expansion of sanctions on AI chip exports to China. This is a notable concern for Nvidia, as China accounts for about 20%-25% of its key data center business. Despite this, Nvidia's CFO Colette Kress has stated that the expected decrease in China will be more than compensated by strong growth in other regions.
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, has resigned and pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws, marking a significant development in the legal scrutiny of the cryptocurrency exchange. Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange founded by Zhao in 2017, also admitted to criminal charges related to money laundering and sanctions laws. The company failed to report over 100,000 suspicious transactions, some linked to terrorist groups, child sexual abuse materials, and ransomware attacks. As part of the plea, Binance will pay over $4.3 billion in penalties. While Zhao faces a $50 million fine, his substantial personal wealth and stake in Binance remain largely unaffected. He may do 18 months in prison. CZ is domiciled in Saudi Arabia apparently. .What a crook....Crime pays.
Oil prices witnessed a decline on Wednesday, influenced by industry data showing a significant increase in U.S. crude inventories, coupled with anticipations surrounding the upcoming OPEC+ meeting.
If this trend is verified by official data, it would mark the fourth consecutive week of inventory builds, suggesting a strong supply of oil. The focus is also on the OPEC+ meeting scheduled for November 26. The upcoming OPEC+ meeting, scheduled for the weekend, is facing potential delays and turbulence due to disagreements within the group, particularly from Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials have expressed dissatisfaction with the oil production levels of other member countries. The kingdom, which has voluntarily reduced its oil output by an additional 1 million barrels per day since July, is currently engaged in challenging negotiations with other OPEC+ members about their production rates. The length of the potential delay for the meeting is still unclear, as no final decision has been made yet. This information comes from delegates involved in the talks, who have requested anonymity due to the private nature of the discussions.
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A snapshot of the markets as the NA session gets underway shows:
- Crude oil is trading down -$3.10 at $7 at.50. Yesterday, the price was trading at $77.40
- Spot gold is trading up $4.43 or 0.22% at $74.80. Yesterday, the price was trading at $1989.91
- Spot silver is trading up $0.11 or 0.48% at $23.84. Yesterday, the price was trading at $23.63
- Bitcoin is trading at $36,558. Yesterday, the price was trading at $37,212
In the US stock market, the major indices are trading lower in pre-market trading. The major US stock indices rose yesterday led by the NASDAQ index
- Dow Industrial Average futures are implying a gain of 34 points. Yesterday, the index fell -62.74 points.
- S&P index futures are implying a gain of 10.5 points. Yesterday the index fell -9.21 points
- NASDAQ futures are implying a gain of 67 points. Yesterday the index fell -84.55 points
In the European equity markets, the major indices are trading higher.
- German DAX, 0.56%.
- France's CAC, ).44%
- UK's FTSE 100,-0.08%
- Spain's Ibex, 0.53%.
- Italy's FTSE MIB, _+0.15%% (10 minute delay)
In the US debt market, yields are lower
- US 2Y T-NOTE: 4.854%, down -2.8 basis points. Yesterday at this time, the yield was at 4.893%
- US 5Y T-NOTE: 4.371% -1.1 basis point. Yesterday at this time, the yield was at 4.429%
- US 10Y T-NOTE: 4.371% -4.7 basis points. Yesterday at this time, the yield was at 4.408%
- US 30Y BOND: 4.527% -5.2 basis points.. Yesterday at this time, the yield was at 4.551%
- 2 – 10-year spread is at -48.6 basis points. This time Friday, the spread was at -48.3basis points
- 2 – 30 year spread is at -32.7 basis points basis points. This time yesterday the spread was at -34.1 basis points
In the European debt market, benchmark 10-year yields are trading lower:
