US stocks edged higher but still remain in the lower end of the trading range, struggling to offset this week’s losses. We expect that lacklustre momentum will continue into Friday when the key jobs report will set the path for the sentiment in regard to the monetary policy path. This will be followed by the last Fed meeting of this year next week. Yields have reversed slightly on the upside on the back of speculation that the recent sell-off might be oversold; the 10-year US Treasury yield is now at 4.15%. The dollar is back below 104. From the macroeconomic perspective, US continuing jobless claims have fallen by the most since July; however, they are not enough to offset the gains that have been made in the last couple of months. This reaffirms market belief that the labour market, while historically robust, is softening slightly month-on-month.
The recent downside across the base metals space stalled today as prices reached multi-month support levels. In particular, aluminium is now cautiously testing prices below the $2,150/t level, closing at $2,132.50/t. Copper struggled below the $8,300/t level, bouncing back to $8,342/t. Lead’s candle today pointed to growing uncertainty about the further downside, as the metals fluctuated around the $2,030/t level, settling at $2,018/t. Likewise, zinc closed just above the $2,400/t support at $2,406.50/t.
Oil futures traded at $69/bl and $74/bl for WTI and Brent, respectively. Gold and silver remained broadly unchanged, trying to find the new support level at $2,020/oz and $23.50/oz, respectively.
All price data is from 07.12.2023 as of 17:30
