Markets

AUS

The S&P/ASX 200 index stumbled at the close to dip 3.2 points to 8614.1, taking the total gain for the week to 2.3 per cent. However, it was not enough for the index to fall 3 per cent for November – the worst month for equities since March.
Monash IVF was flat at 85¢ after the Victorian government imposed certain conditions on the registration of its clinics in that state following an embryo mix-up disclosed in June.
Qube fell 2.2 per cent to $4.86 as Morningstar said in a note that Macquarie’s $11.6 billion bid for Qube underscores the rapid decline of listed infrastructure on the ASX, reducing opportunities for individual investors.
Westpac slipped 0.8 per cent to $37.59 after its New Zealand arm was fined $NZ3.64 million ($3.19 million) for breaching lender-responsibility rules, with failures that left customers without legally required loan information and, in some cases, agreed interest-rate discounts.

A data centre fault halted activity on the CME for several hours on Friday, bringing futures trading to a standstill and fanning concerns over global markets’ heavy reliance on a single exchange. ($FT)
Malaysian glove maker Kossan’s 4Q performance is likely to be flattish on year, says CIMB Securities, expecting the industry’s operating landscape to remain challenging in the long term due to demand-supply imbalances.
MediaTek’s shares surge amid better AI application-specific integrated circuits visibility.

Bitcoin bounced to $91,500, but a break above $98,000 and, ideally, consolidation over $100,000 is needed to invalidate the month-long downtrend from October’s $126,000 peak.
The Fear & Greed Index sits at 20/100 (extreme fear), up from 10 last week, signaling tentative improvement in investor sentiment.
Thanksgiving trading saw subdued activity; SKY outperformed with an 8.5% gain, while ZEC and TIA slid on continued sell pressure and negative sentiment.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has struck a deal for a new pipeline carrying a million barrels of oil a day to Canada’s west coast in a bid to pivot away from an over-reliance on the US economy. ($FT)
U.S. shoppers spent $8.6 billion online on Black Friday, an Adobe Analytics report showed, as more consumers turned to laptops and phones instead of braving brisk weather to snap up deals during the holiday shopping weekend. (TR)
China’s central bank reaffirmed its tough stance on virtual currencies on Saturday, warning of a resurgence in speculation and vowing to crack down on illegal activities involving stablecoins. (TR)
Home lending is expected to grow 6 per cent next year, shrugging off a regulatory crackdown on risky lending as three ambitious bank chief executives step up the competition with market leader Commonwealth Bank. ($AFR)
The Reserve Bank of Australia might water down its controversial proposal to impose a ban on credit card surcharge fees, which drew a backlash from business, and the regulator is also taking steps to appease the big banks’ concerns about interchange fees. ($AFR)
Investors are anticipating a “radical” shift away from long-term borrowing by the UK government, after it said it was considering selling more short-term Treasury bills. ($FT)

Macquarie’s knee-jerk reaction to having to repay $321 million to investors who lost money in the collapse of the Shield Master Trust is still causing colossal issues for a long list of affected fund managers. ($AFR)
Infrastructure investors including BlackRock, Brookfield and Apollo are courting the leading oil and gas companies, sensing an opportunity as the sector grapples with lower prices and a lack of enthusiasm from public-market investors. ($FT)
Western banks have been the biggest beneficiaries of Hong Kong equity sales this year, shrugging off US-China tensions as dealmaking booms in Asia’s financial hub. ($FT)
OpenAI’s huge early lead in the race to dominate artificial intelligence is under the greatest pressure since ChatGPT’s launch, as rivals Google and Anthropic gain ground in the cutting-edge technology. ($FT)
China’s jewellery retailers are reeling from gold’s blistering rally and the reduction of a tax rebate as high prices have deterred buyers and led to hundreds of store closures in one of the world’s largest consumer markets for the metal. ($FT)

Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said it is “clear” that volatile yen swings aren’t “moving based on fundamentals,” in the latest expression of the government’s frustration over the currency. ($BBG)

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney signed an agreement with Alberta’s premier on Thursday that rolls back certain climate rules to spur investment in energy production, while encouraging construction of a new oil pipeline to the West Coast. (TR)
The new head of the Bank for International Settlements has said reining in hedge funds’ ability to make highly leveraged bets in government bond markets should be a key priority for policymakers given rapidly increasing public debt levels. (TR)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has cast doubt on the latest US efforts to make a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, but confirmed that a US delegation would travel to Moscow early next week. ($FT)
The chief executive of Italian bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is under investigation for alleged market manipulation and obstruction of supervisory functions in connection with its takeover of rival Mediobanca. ($FT)
Donald Trump has said he will pardon the former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted last year in the US of drug trafficking, ahead of a tense presidential election in the Central American country on Sunday. ($FT)
APRA’s pre-emptive limit on mortgage lending at a high Debt-to-Income ratio highlights that good lending practice should not be distorted by system-level controls. At the margin, the policy is slightly dovish for the interest rate outlook. (APRA)

Deutsche Börse has launched a bid to buy private equity-backed fund platform Allfunds for €5.3bn, as the German exchange group seeks to expand. ($FT)
The owner of a major Chinese drone parts supplier has taken a stake in one of Russia’s leading drone companies, highlighting a deepening relationship between Moscow and Beijing’s military-industrial complexes. ($FT)
Naver bought Upbit, a crypto exchange, for $10.3 billion. ($BBG)
Ursa Major Technologies, a rocket-engine startup, raised $100 million. (article)
Gate Bioscience, a protein-elimination biotech, raised $65 million. (article)
Gridware, an electric-grid protection startup, raised $55 million. (article)
Numeric, an accounting automation startup, raised $51 million. (article)
Agentio, a creator-led advertising platform, raised $40 million. (article)

Westpac IQ revise their dairy price forecasts due to increased global production and the New Zealand Reserve Bank’s 25-point rate cut to 2.25%, signaling a likely end to the easing cycle with potential rate rises ahead. (WIQ)
Westpac IQ’s research show that private sector credit growth accelerated in recent months, with October data showing a robust 0.7%mth increase, exceeding their forecast and consensus expectations. (WIQ)