With U.S. stock markets closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, Asian markets drew interest further to the nearly 3% downturn posted on the main Chinese stock market. This drop is explained by a tightening of credit conditions by authorities as well as by profit-taking further to significant gains made since the beginning of the year. Though the return of the CSI 300 Index has been at 24% year to date, it is impressive to note that the Chinese market is still trading 28% below the high posted in 2007! The situation is very different for North American indexes with the S&P500 and Nasdaq indexes trading at 67% and 140% above the highs of 2007, respectively.
Canadian retail sales figures released yesterday weighed briefly on the Canadian dollar after a sharp rise at the beginning of the week. Today, we are keeping an eye on discussions between Russia and OPEC, who are in talks regarding the possibility of maintaining the production freeze until the end of next year. WTI crude oil is taking advantage of the situation and posting gains.
Emmanuel Tessier-Fleury
Range of the day: 1.2665 – 1.2750