Friday was a relatively boring trading day that marked the end of relatively boring week. US markets, closed on Thursday due to Thanksgiving celebrations, moved so little on Friday that they are barely worth mentioning. In fact, the same can be said for stock indices worldwide, traders perhaps content to let the month fizzle out rather than end with a bang.
The trend seems set to continue early this week with very little news to speak of. If anything, it is the European markets that could breathe some life into the financial news cycle, Wednesday and Thursday in particular offering up a slew of economic data from the major Eurozone countries. Perhaps the most important announcements we’ll get this week are central bank related. Fed members will speak at a number of events this week. The consensus remains that the Fed will continue to push the message that inflation is still to high and therefore to expect absolutely no interest rate cuts in the medium-term future.
Oil markets a little directionless at the moment after the OPEC meeting, which was supposed to take place on Sunday, was delayed to Wednesday after petroleum exporting countries struggled to agree on output levels. In light of falling global demand and a recent build-up of supplies, as well as no further escalation in the Middle East, oil has continued to bleed since September with WTI closing the week at $75 a barrel on Friday, down from highs of almost $94 two months ago.
Gold, taking advantage of a weaker dollar, managed a close above the psychologically important $2000 mark on Friday, closing at $2002 after gaining a solid percentage point on the weekly. Quite telling that this was the most important thing to happen all week.
