Morning Wrap: ASX 200 to rise, US inflation comes in exactly as expected, Bank of Canada cuts rates by 50bps

What do you get when the world's most important data print (US core inflation) comes in exactly as expected, the Bank of Canada cuts interest rates by 50 basis points, and six of the Magnificent Seven finish the overnight session higher? Simple. A green leading indicator on ASX 200 futures! Let's hope it sticks.

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S&P 500 SESSION CHART

It was almost - to quote our colleague Carl Capolingua - bottom-left, top-right! (Source: TradingView)

OVERNIGHT MARKETS

• US equities finished mostly higher in Wednesday trading. Nasdaq set a fresh record high, topping the 20K mark.

• Treasuries were weaker, third straight day seeing curve higher/steeper (long-term bond yields rising faster than short-term yields)

• US Dollar index was up 0.3%.

• Gold finished up 1.4%. Bitcoin futures were up 5.3%, moving back above $100K. WTI crude settled up 2.5%.

MARKETS

• Tesla shares hit record high following 64% rally since Trump victory (CNBC)

• Nasdaq crosses 20,000 points for the first time amid tech stock rally (Reuters)

STOCKS

• Apple developing new AI server chip with Broadcom, expected to be ready by 2026 (Bloomberg)

• Google releases Gemini upgrades including AI-powered assistants, Apple rolls out gen AI updates to iOS (FT)

• Supreme Court dismisses appeal by Nvidia, must case lawsuit over misleading comments on crypto-mining revenue (Bloomberg)

• Hershey Trust rejects Mondelez offer, saying bid is too low (Bloomberg)

• NFL extends Nike's exclusive deal on jerseys and sideline apparel through 2038 (Bloomberg)

• Maersk expects global container market volume rising as much as 7% next year, bolstered by strong US demand (Reuters)

COMMODITIES

• OPEC again cuts its forecast for 2024 oil-demand growth, with China in focus (Reuters)

• Premiums on gold and silver futures jump amid traders' concerns about possible tariff impacts (Bloomberg)

• Oil spikes on reports Biden is set to slap harsh new sanction on Russian oil exports (Bloomberg)

ECONOMY

• Slower housing inflation paves way for 25 bp cut next week, but Fed projections expected to show shallower 2025 rate cut path (NY Times)

• Bank of Canada cuts by 50 bp, as expected, while economists expect further easing (FT)

• Growing belief inside BoJ that conditions for another hike to 0.5% are falling into place (Reuters)

• Washington-Beijing economic talks set to resume on Dec 12 (Bloomberg)

BROKER MOVES

• Beach Energy upgraded to neutral from sell at Citi, price target of $1.20

• Amcor upgraded to buy from underperform at BofA; target remains $12.50

Stocks trading ex-dividend: 

• Fri 13 Dec: Metcash (MTS) - 2.54%

• Mon 16 Dec: Plato Income Maximiser (PL8) - 0.45%

• Tue 17 Dec: Elders (ELD) - 2.37%

Economic calendar (AEDT):

• 11:30am: November jobs report - est. +26K jobs, 4.2% unemployment rate

• Overnight: ECB Interest Rate Decision, US PPI