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© Reuters.
By Peter Nurse
Investing.com – Black Friday is here, but the shopping season is expected to be different with online sales likely to increase. European banking consolidation is on hold in Spain, while AstraZeneca (NASDAQ 🙂 is unlikely to feel much love as Wall Street returns from its Thanksgiving vacation. Oil is trading mixed as a pivotal OPEC + meeting looms, as the pound maintains its strength and stocks continue their recent positive trend. Here’s what you need to know about the financial markets on Friday, November 27.
1. Black Friday is coming, but with a difference
It’s Black Friday, traditionally the busiest shopping day in the United States, but in 2020 things should be different.
Photos of shoppers scrambling to enter stores looking for bargains have been the staple of news channels for years, but Covid-19 restrictions have forced stores to turn away most online shopping .
Many large retailers, hit hard by the pandemic, have started offering their Black Friday promotions much earlier than usual, taking the example of Amazon (NASDAQ 🙂 hosting their Prime Day in mid-October, in order to to capture the most vacation-related commerce. as possible.
The period is still likely to be exceptional for large retailers, with the National Retail Federation forecasting US holiday retail sales to grow 3.6% to 5.2% in 2019, for a total of $ 755.3 billion. dollars to $ 766.7 billion. This compares to an average annual increase of 3.5% over the past five years.
2. BBVA (MC 🙂 and Sabadell (MC 🙂 end discussions
Banco Sabadell’s stock fell 12% after the collapse of its potential merger with rival BBVA, just two weeks after the two Spanish banks announced plans to merge. The disagreement appears to revolve around the price of the deal, which would have resulted in a bank with a market capitalization of around 27.5 billion euros ($ 33 billion).
BBVA, Spain’s second-largest bank, said it was in no rush to expand operations given that it already holds around 15% of Spain’s market share, while Sabadell has announced that it would launch a new strategy to prioritize national affairs.
European lenders have come under considerable pressure, with financial challenges linked to the Covid-19 pandemic adding to their woes. Consolidation of the region’s fragmented banking sector was seen as a way forward, and even before the proposed deal, CaixaBank and Bankia had announced their intention to merge in a deal that would create Spain’s largest national bank, with a combined market capitalization of nearly 17 billion euros. .
3. Rising stocks; AstraZeneca in brief
US stocks are expected to open higher on Friday, although gains are likely to be limited as the market is expected to close soon after the Thanksgiving holiday.
At 6:30 a.m., the contract rose 62 points, or 0.2%, as it traded 7 points, or 0.2%, higher, and climbed 46 points, or 0, 4%.
The generally positive news about the coronavirus vaccine and the emergence of political certainty in the United States sparked strong gains on Wall Street, breaking the 30,000 mark for the first time earlier this week.
President Donald Trump said Thursday he would step down if the electoral college votes for President-elect Joe Biden. It’s the closest he’s come to conceding the election, and adds to the sense of normalcy back in American political circles.
AstraZeneca (LON 🙂 will be at the center of attention when Wall Street opens, after Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, expressed concern about the viability of the data used to create the level of efficiency of 90% of the drug manufacturer’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate.
4. The pound sterling retains its strength, for now
The British pound remains close to three-month highs against the US dollar, despite UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak’s horrific spending review a few days ago.
Sunak laid bare the UK’s weak finances, saying Britain is set to borrow nearly £ 400bn ($ 533bn) this year, or 19% of GDP, the highest ever registered in peacetime. He added that the UK economy is expected to contract 11.3% in 2020, the biggest drop in over 300 years.
Yet despite this, the pound remains relatively strong, with traders continuing to expect late progress in Brexit negotiations between the UK and the EU, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier traveling to London on Friday evening as the two sides attempt to resolve fishing and competition disputes. Politics.
“Once again, the watershed moment for the pound (with asymmetric downside risks if no deal is reached) appear to be near, but the timing remains a big question mark,” analysts said. ING, in a research note.
5. Mixed oil; OPEC meeting + key view
Crude oil prices traded mixed on Friday, but still close to their post-pandemic highs as attention turns to the crucial OPEC + meeting next week.
As of 6.30am ET (11.30am GMT), futures were down 0.8% to $ 45.34 per barrel, while futures were up 0.8% to $ 48.16.
Reuters reported on Friday that the major oil-producing countries, a group known as OPEC +, will hold informal discussions online on Saturday ahead of major meetings next week.
The group has come under pressure to maintain the current level of oil production, given weak demand for oil and the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. OPEC + previously agreed to increase production by 2 million barrels per day in January as part of a continued easing of record supply cuts as oil prices rose.
However, the decision to expand current production levels is by no means certain, as a number of cartel countries seek to maximize income by increasing production levels.
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