【TOP1 Morning】Dollar fell below the 92-mark, gold prices snap 2-session skid on Thanksgiving eve

Yesterday Market Review

Gold

Gold rebounds weakly on Wednesday.

The spot gold closed at $1806.79 per ounce; the volatility within the day is$1801.50-$1817.62.

The S&P 500 and the Dow retreated on signs of a slowdown in the labor market recovery. On Tuesday, Wall Street rallied to a record as progress on vaccines and a smooth White House transition bolstered bets on a swifter economic rebound.

The dollar's slide "along with the technical support (for gold near $1,800), convinced some people to maybe stop selling and acquire some more positions," said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.

"The next six months are going to be very difficult; we're going to experience significantly below potential growth, and governments and central banks will have to significantly add to stimulus to make sure we don't get the second wave transform into a long period of economic underperformance," Melek added.

The silver closed at $23.320, the volatility within the day is $23.077-$23.505.

Forex

The dollar fell below the 92-mark on Wednesday. 

The U.S. dollar index closed at 92.01; the volatility within the day is  91.91 - 92.25.

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits increased further last week, suggesting that an explosion in new COVID-19 infections and business restrictions were boosting layoffs and undermining the labor market recovery.

The dollar has come under pressure in recent months from expectations that U.S. rates will remain near historic lows for years to come, and as news of various COVID-19 vaccines helped boost investors' appetite for riskier currencies.

Still, the dollar is expected to continue to fall as progress on a vaccine, and the expected choice of former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as the next U.S. Treasury secretary relieved two big uncertainties for investors.

The EUR/USD rose 0.21% to 1.1917; the USD/JPY fell less than 0.1% to 104.39; the GBP/USD rose 0.17% to 1.3380; the AUD/USD rose 0.05% to 0.7365.

Stock Market

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell on Wednesday, taking a breather after reaching a significant milestone, while traders pored over disappointing unemployment data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 173.77 points, or 0.58%, to close at 29,872.47. The S&P 500 fell 5.76 points, or 0.16%, to end at 3,629.65 while the Nasdaq Composite rose 57.08 points or   0.47% at 12,094.40.

Apple (AAPL-US) rose 0.75%; Facebook (FB-US) fell 0.48%; Alphabet (GOOGL-US) rose 0.013%; Amazon (AMZN-US) rose 2.15%; Microsoft (MSFT-US) rose 0.0047%.

Tesla continued to climb more than 4% on Tuesday, increasing its total market value above $500 billion for the first time. The company's share price has grown 550% since the start of the year.

Moderna, shares of the biotechnology company, jumped more than 5% after Moderna announced that the European Commission approved an agreement for the purchase of 80 million doses of the company's Covid-19 vaccine candidate. Earlier in Nov. 

"The market is caught between two powerful impulses -- optimism for the post-pandemic world and fear because present reality is that the pandemic is exploding throughout the country," said Jeff Klingelhofer, co-head of investments and portfolio manager at Thornburg Investment Management, which has $44 billion in total client assets. "Markets could be choppy, but downside is likely limited by the vaccine."

Crude Oil

Oil prices climbed to the highest in more than eight months on Wednesday.

West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $45.869, volatility within the day is $44.769-$46.294. International benchmark Brent crude closed at $48.705, volatility within the day is $47.616-$48.908.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 754,000 barrels last week, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 127,000-barrel rise. Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI, fell by 1.7 million barrels.

"There was a decent drawdown at Cushing, so that's supportive. It was probably the most bullish aspect of this report," John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

Still, price gains were capped due to lingering concerns over oil demand.

A weaker dollar also supported crude prices as a lower greenback makes oil less expensive for buyers holding other currencies.

OPEC+, made up of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, is leaning towards delaying next year's planned increase in output despite a rise in prices, three sources close to OPEC+ said.

Focus Today

15:00(GMT+8): Germany GfK Consumer Confidence (DEC), Forecast:-5, Previous:-3.1;

20:30(GMT+8): ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts;