Dow Rises Over 100 Points; US Manufacturing PMI Drops In November

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Dow Jones gaining more than 100 points on Wednesday.

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.40% to 34,233.88 while the NASDAQ rose 0.74% to 11,257.46. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.46% to 4,021.86.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares rose by 1% on Wednesday. Leading the sector was strength from Porch Group, Inc. PRCH and Latham Group, Inc. SWIM.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 1%.

Top Headline

The S&P Global manufacturing PMI dropped to 47.6 in November from 50.4 in the previous month, compared to market estimates of 50, while composite PMI fell to 46.3 in November from 48.2.

Equities Trading UP

• Perfect Corp. PERF shares shot up 25% to $6.61 after dropping 39% on Tuesday. Goldman Sachs, on Monday, initiated coverage on Perfect with a Neutral rating and announced a price target of $7.8.
• Shares of Latham Group, Inc. SWIM got a boost, shooting 19% to $3.3795. The company recently posted downbeat quarterly results.
• Outset Medical, Inc. OM shares were also up, gaining 14% to $20.42. RBC Capital Markets recently initiated coverage on Outset Medical with an Outperform rating and a price target of $23.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Prenetics Global Limited PRE shares tumbled 21% to $1.7390. Prenetics Global recently posted Q3 sales of $79.68 million.
• Shares of PagSeguro Digital Ltd. PAGS were down 18% to $9.79 after the company reported Q3 earnings results.
• SuperCom Ltd. SPCB was down, falling 16% to $1.8899. SuperCom reported a 1-for-10 reverse stock split.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 4% to $77.75 while gold traded up 0.2% at $1,743.60.

Silver traded up 1.6% to $21.38 on Wednesday while copper rose 0.1% to $3.6160.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.5%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.1%. The German DAX gained 0.1%, French CAC 40 rose 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.1%.

The S&P Global Eurozone services PMI came in unchanged at 48.6 in November, while manufacturing PMI rose to 47.3 in November from 46.4 in October. The S&P Global/CIPS UK services PMI came in unchanged at 48.8 in November, while manufacturing PMI stood at 46.2 in November.

The S&P Global French composite PMI dropped to 48.8 in November, while composite PMI in Germany climbed to 46.4 in November.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday, with the Japan’s Nikkei gaining 0.61% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.57%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.26%.

The S&P Global Australia Composite PMI dropped to 47.7 in November from 49.8 in the prior month.

Economics

• US initial jobless claims climbed by 17,000 to 240,000 in the week ending November 19th, compared to market estimates of 225,000.
• Durable goods orders rose 1% month-over-month during October.
• Building permits fell 3.3% from a month ago to an annual rate of 1.512 million in October.
• The S&P Global manufacturing PMI dropped to 47.6 in November from 50.4 in the previous month, compared to market estimates of 50, while composite PMI fell to 46.3 in November from 48.2.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 100,279,690 cases with around 1,103,350 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,671,110 cases and 530,590 deaths, while France reported over 37,442,940 COVID-19 cases with 158,420 deaths. In total, there were at least 644,087,700 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,629,510 deaths.