Global Stock Market Highlights: Week 49- Dec 2nd – 8th, 2024

United States

The US market started the last week of 2024 on an optimistic note, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes hitting record highs due to increased demand for growth stocks. 

The S&P 500 index rose 0.96% during the month, and the Nasdaq rose 3.32%. Substantial gains in consumer discretionary and healthcare stocks supported the indexes. Last week, US consumers spent nearly $11 billion online on Black Friday sales, shattering records with an increase in retail sales of 3.4% from last year. 

During the week, the US Labor Department released November Non-farm Payroll data. Nonfarm payrolls rose sharply from October, creating 227,000 new positions and increasing the number of job opportunities. 

Also, Bitcoin crossed the $100K milestone after Trump named pro-crypto Paul Atkins to head the US market regulator, SEC. 

Eurozone

Political instability in France is affecting investor sentiment in the Eurozone area. Key macroeconomic data indicate the economy slowed down in the fourth quarter of the year. 

Retail trade volumes in the region fell 0.5% sequentially in October after rising 0.5% in September, owing primarily to lower sales of non-food products and automobile fuel. Manufacturing in Germany has continued to struggle. Industrial output in the country declined by 1.0% month on month, against the expectations of a 1.2% recovery. Factory orders fell 1.5% monthly, with demand for machinery and equipment falling the most.

Following this, the market is also anticipating a faster pace of policy easing by the European Central Bank.

During the week, key indices such as the CAC 40, DAX, and FTSE advanced by 2.65%, 5.22%, and 0.26%, respectively. 

Asia

The emerging political situation in South Korea concerns investors worldwide and in the Asian region. In Japan, the weakness in the Yen against the USD supported the profit growth outlook for Japan’s export heavy industries. The benchmark index, Nikkei 225, rose 2.33% during the week. 

In China, increased hope of additional stimulus measures, along with resilient manufacturing data, supported the stock market during the week. The Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.28% and 2.33%, respectively. 

The Indian stock market, meanwhile, staged a strong recovery this week, with the Nifty 50 rising by 2.7% on the back of attractive valuations in large-cap stocks. 

Top Highlights of the Global Stock Market This Week

• This week, the OPEC+ group decided to postpone the planned supply increases and extend the deep supply cuts to the end of 2026, citing a slowdown in global demand. The group accounts for nearly 50% of the world’s oil supply. 

• In the US, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell indicated that the US economy is in good shape, and any future rate cut move needs a cautious approach. The labor market showed signs of cooling, with better non-farm payroll data released for November.
  
• After reporting a slowdown in growth in the July-September quarter, Canada reported another economic shocker. The jobless rate touched an eight-year high of 6.8% in November, the highest level since July 2017, thus boosting calls for a 50-bps rate cut.
  
• Despite warnings of an economic slowdown, the German stock market index, DAX, broke the 20,000 barrier for the first time, rising 5.22% throughout the week, supported by gains in the US and Asian stock markets.

• The Russian economy is slowing down, and inflation is double the government’s target of 2%, on the back of increased war spending. Reports suggest the Russian central bank is contemplating raising key rates by 200 bps to 23% after the Rouble lost 15% of its value against the USD in November.
  
• In its December policy meeting, RBI significantly reduced India’s GDP growth estimate for FY25 to 6.6% from 7.2% and raised the inflation estimate to 4.5% for the Jan-March 2025 quarter. 

Key Economic Events to Watch in Global Markets in the Upcoming Week

• The US Department of Labor Statistics is expected to release the November 2024 inflation data on December 11th. Other key data released during the week will be wholesale trade sales for October and the Producer Price Index for November. 

• The European Central Bank’s rate cut decision is expected on December 12th. Analysts predict a 25 bps cut in December and four more rate cuts in 2025.
  
• UK’s GDP data for October will be released on 13th December.

• Japan will release its July-September quarter GDP growth numbers on December 8th. The country reported 0.9% GDP in the quarter. 

• The Reserve Bank of Australia will release its interest rate decision on December 9th.
  
• Germany will release its CPI monthly for November on December 10th.
  
• In India, the government will release the WPI Inflation data for November 13th December. 

The week ahead holds key events and data releases that could shape market trends. Investors should remain watchful of emerging opportunities and challenges as economic policies and global dynamics evolve.

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