Shortened week ends slightly down due to trade and OPEC fears

Despite a shortened day of trading after American Thanksgiving, New York indices shed as much as half-a-point Friday to end a week that saw several record-breaking highs. Headlines may have encouraged traders to shed positions: Trump signed a bill that supports the Hong Kong democracy protestors, which infuriated China; German retail and Japanese industrial numbers declined; or maybe investors were just taking profits. Nonetheless, China-sensitive stocks like AMD and NVIDIA dropped two-thirds of a point. Micron fell 1.35%.

In Canada, industrials, energy and tech helped drag the TSX down 0.41%, though the index remains above 17,000, after making new highs earlier this week. In particular, Husky Energy was down 3.69% and Encana slipped 2.43%. The trigger was bearish news from OPEC, which also pressured American markets.

Saudi Arabia will no longer compensate for excessive production by other OPEC members, and Russia may block an OPEC+ quota extension. WTI closed down 5.1% Friday, though it’s still held above the November low of $54.75. Meanwhile, gold continued its climb with names like Detour up 2.93%, Americas Gold and Silver up 7.51% and Continental up 7.74%. All in all, November this year is a complete reversal to the sell-off a year ago. Will this trend hold in December?

💾 Micron Technology -1.35%
🛢 Husky Energy -3.69%
🛢 Encana Corp -2.43%
👑 Detour Gold +2.93%
🥈 Americas Silver Corp +7.51%
👑 Continental Gold Limited +7.74%