The European Indexes consolidated near highs and investors evaluated data on labor, production and housing to measure the strength of the US economy. The US markets will be closed tomorrow for the Thanksgiving day.
Six of the top 10 industries in the SP500 rose today, with telephone and technology companies presenting the greatest gains. Energy shares were the most depreciated, falling 0.6% before the OPEC meeting tomorrow. Deutsche Telekom said that together with the French Orange is in preliminary talks with the British group BT to launch an offer on the Franco-German joint venture EE.
In order to stabilize crude oil prices, Saudi Arabia led negotiations with Venezuela, Mexico and Russia, to reach an agreement to reduce production. Although the OPEC countries are favorable to a decrease in production, the share of each member is a source of contention.
The US economy grew 3.90% in the 3rd quarter of this year, surpassing not only the estimates of economists (3.30%) as the initial forecast of the Commerce Department, the public agency responsible for the calculation of GDP. Contributing to this upward revision were private consumption (+ 2.20% vs 1.90% estimated) and investment (10.7% vs 5.50% predicted). On the negative side, exports have been revised downwards as well as public spending.
Inflation linked to GDP increased by 1:40% in the 3rd quarter. The price of real estate in 20 major US metropolitan areas increased, year on year, 4.90% in September. Consumer confidence unexpectedly fell from 94.5 seen in October to the current 88.7.
Due to the celebration of the Thanksgiving Day tomorrow and the reduced session on Friday, it is not excluded that at the end of the day some managers reduce their market exposure. While we celebrate the Day of Action Thanksgiving, OPEC will meet in Vienna and will decide if production decreases, a decision that will influence the price of oil and reflection of the equity markets. On the same day, various data will be reported in Europe. Therefore, it is not excluded that many American managers who will only return to their trading rooms on Monday take a prudent stance.