Overnight US stocks | Three major indices fell this week, while Palantir (PLTR.US) reached a new all-time high at the close.

On Friday, the three major indexes fell, with the Federal Reserve indicating a reluctance to continue lowering interest rates, reducing market expectations for a rate cut in December. All three major U.S. stock indexes recorded declines this week, with the Dow down 1.24%, the S&P 500 down 2.08%, and the Nasdaq down 3.15%. [US Stock Market]: At the close, the Dow dropped 305.87 points, or 0.70%, to 43,444.99 points; the Nasdaq fell 427.53 points, or 2.24%, to 18,680.12 points; and the S&P 500 fell 78.55 points, or 1.32%, to 5870.62 points. Palantir (PLTR.US) closed up 11%, hitting a record high, and the company is about to be included on the Nasdaq. [European Stock Market]: The Germany DAX30 index fell 25.18 points, or 0.13%, to 19,217.55 points; the UK FTSE 100 index fell 6.95 points, or 0.09%, to 8,064.24 points; the France CAC40 index fell 42.17 points, or 0.58%, to 7,269.63 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 38.18 points, or 0.79%, to 4,795.35 points; the Spain IBEX35 index rose 107.33 points, or 0.93%, to 11,631.63 points; and the Italy FTSE MIB index fell 169.16 points, or 0.49%, to 34,189.00 points. [Asia-Pacific Stock Market]: The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.28%, the Jakarta Composite index in Indonesia fell 0.74%, and the KOSPI index in South Korea edged lower. [Cryptocurrency]: Bitcoin rose over 4.6% to $91,334.37 per coin; Ethereum rose over 1.6% to $3,107.84 per coin. [Gold]: Spot gold fell 0.12% to $2,561.72 per ounce, accumulating a 4.58% decline this week, the largest weekly drop since June 2021 when it fell over 6.038% to $1,764.16 on June 18th. Fund managers' bullish positions in gold have dropped to their lowest in over three months, as Donald Trump's decisive victory in the election reduced the demand for gold as a safe haven. Weekly data released by the U.S. government on Friday showed that as of November 12th, hedge funds and other large speculators reduced their net long positions by 11% to 197,362, hitting a 14-week low. Gold has fallen by around 8% since hitting a record high on October 31st, with the decline accelerating after Donald Trump won the election last week. [Oil]: U.S. WTI crude oil futures prices fell 2.4% on Friday, bringing the cumulative weekly decline to 7.4%. Concerns about oversupply in the oil market have pressured prices. New York Mercantile Exchange December delivery of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures prices fell $1.68, or 2.44%, to close at $67.02 per barrel, marking a weekly decline of 7.38%. [Metals]: London metals prices fluctuated, with London copper down 0.61% and London nickel down over 1.5%; London aluminum rose over 5% and London zinc rose 0.44%. [Macro News]: U.S. October retail sales beat expectations but economists remain cautious. U.S. October retail sales exceeded expectations, providing additional assurance of U.S. consumers' health ahead of the important holiday season. Scott Helfstein, Chief Investment Strategist of Global X, believes that this data may be more valuable than the CPI reported on Wednesday for the Federal Reserve and investors: "With a slightly weak labor market, consumer health is a key issue for upcoming earnings reports and potential tariff increases." However, some economists are worried that the slowdown in October sales may be more severe than expected. Aditya Bhave, an economist at Bank of America Corp, said that sales may have actually decreased due to reduced discretionary spending in states affected by Hurricane "Milton" and unfavorable seasonal adjustments. Gisela Hoxha, the lead economist at Citigroup, also expressed cautiousness about the report, noting that credit card spending within Citigroup Inc. in some retail categories decreased by 1.65% compared to the previous month, indicating more moderate consumer spending. Hoxha wrote: "We still expect the labor market to weaken in the coming months, which will drag down consumer spending." U.S. October import price index unexpectedly rises as progress in inflation stalls. U.S. import prices unexpectedly rose in October, driven by higher fuel and other commodity prices, marking the latest sign that progress in curbing inflation has stalled in recent months. The monthly import price index rebounded 0.3% in October after a 0.4% unadjusted drop in September, surpassing market expectations of a 0.1% decrease; the annual rate rose 0.8%, exceeding the expected 0.3%, compared to a 0.1% decline previously. In October, import fuel prices rose 1.5% after consecutive declines for two months, while food prices fell 1.6% for the third consecutive month. Import prices excluding fuel and food rose 0.4% after a 0.3% increase in September. Core import prices in October rose 2.2% year-on-year. Government data released this week shows that progress in lowering the inflation rate to the 2% target has essentially stalled. Consumer prices in October rose for the fourth consecutive month by 0.2%, while producer prices also rose by 0.2%. With the incoming Trump administration expected to impose tariffs on imported goods, economists believe that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates four times by 2025, as policymakers forecasted in September. Federal Reserve's Goolsbee: Will continue to refer to September dot plot, should slow down when approaching neutral interest rates. Federal Reserve's Goolsbee stated that they will consider rate cuts based on the Fed's September dot plot, personally preferring not to advance directly towards neutral interest rates but to slow down when approaching them, as neutral rates are significantly lower than the current level of Fed policy rates. In the Fed's policy considerations, any issues will always be within the scope of discussion. He also said:The inflation data must continue to improve. If there is a reverse in the inflation process, it must be determined whether this is just a temporary fluctuation. There hasn't been much change in this aspect in the past few weeks. However, inflation has been slightly above the target level recently. If this situation continues, the (long-term) inflation level will be too high.Individual Stock News McDonald's Corporation (MCD.US) will spend $100 million to deal with the E. coli outbreak, boosting sales and supporting franchisees. Following the E. coli incident, McDonald's Corporation will invest $100 million to boost sales and support franchisees. A memo to employees and franchisees shows that McDonald's Corporation has resumed serving Big Macs with onions nationwide, and the company is investing $35 million in marketing and advertising. In addition, McDonald's Corporation revealed that they are spending $65 million to support franchisee projects, such as deferring rent and franchisee fees. Musk's xAI raises $60 billion for 10,000 NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) chips to upgrade supercomputing centers. According to foreign media reports, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI has raised up to $60 billion at a valuation of $500 billion. Sources say the financing is expected to be completed early next week, with $50 billion coming from sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and $10 billion from other investors, some of whom may wish to make additional investments. The funds will be used to purchase 10,000 NVIDIA Corporation chips to upgrade the Memphis Yunji, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A group. Tesla, Inc.'s Full Self-Driving (FSD) is expected to rely on the new Memphis supercomputer. NIO Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A (NIO.US) announces business expansion in Azerbaijan. NIO Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A signed a strategic cooperation agreement with partner Green Car, announcing the formal launch of operations in Azerbaijan to provide intelligent electric vehicle products and services to local users. According to the agreement, Green Car will become the national distributor for NIO Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A in Azerbaijan, serving local users directly. Following NIO Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A's overall system standards, Green Car will operate in the local market around products, services, and community, and will be responsible for investing in and building sales and service networks such as NIO Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A charging stations, service centers, and NIO Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A centers. NIO Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A will develop and authorize Green Car to use digital products such as the NIO Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A official website and mobile app in Azerbaijan, ensuring consistency in the global user experience of NIO Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A. NIO Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A will officially start product deliveries in Azerbaijan in the second quarter of 2025.