Dow falls as Cyber Monday stocks rise

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell on Monday, as traders took a breather after the major averages posted a four-week winning streak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 56.68 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 35,333.47. The S&P 500 shed 0.20 per cent to 4,550.43. The Nasdaq Composite edged lower 0.07 per cent to 14,241.02.

US retailers are noticing a decline in consumer spending, despite a 7.5 per cent increase in e-commerce spending on Black Friday compared to the previous year.

Some e-commerce stocks rose on Cyber Monday, with shares of Amazon and Shopify jumping about 0.7 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively. “Buy now, pay later” stock Affirm popped nearly 12 per cent, as shoppers flocked to usage of BNPL options for their Cyber Monday purchases.

iRobot's shares fell 17 per cent as the EU watchdog raised competition concerns about Amazon's $1.7 billion acquisition. The European Commission suspects the deal might limit competition in the robot vacuum cleaner market, initiating an in-depth probe after Amazon announced the purchase in August 2022 for $61 per share.

Weak spending data overall could ultimately be a positive signal that the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes are finally starting to weigh on the broader economy.

The Consumer Confidence report is due Tuesday, while the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index is set to release on Thursday.

New home sales data released Monday showed new homes sold at a slower than expected pace in October while still showing improvement from a year ago, according to data from the Commerce Department.

Turning to US sectors, Real Estate, Consumer Discretionary, Utilities and Tech were the only sectors that closed higher overnight. Health was the worst performer.

In commodity-related news, gold hit a six-month high on Monday as a softer dollar and expectations of a pause in the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening helped bullion consolidate above the key $2,000 an ounce level.

Oil prices have been choppy as investors awaited OPEC’s decision on production cuts. Brent crude slightly dropped to $80.43 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate edged up to $75.57. The meeting, initially set for the weekend, was rescheduled due to disputes with Angola and Nigeria over output targets. Oil briefly dipped but recovered after the delay was announced.

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.1 per cent gain.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 7:25 AM was buying 66.07 US cents.

Commodities

Gold added 0.59 per cent. Silver gained 1.53 per cent. Copper fell 0.82 per cent. Oil lost 0.77 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed lower. London’s FTSE fell 0.37 per cent, Frankfurt lost 0.39 per cent, and Paris closed 0.37 per cent lower.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.53 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.20 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.30 per cent lower.

The Australian share market closed 0.75 per cent lower at 6988.

Ex-dividends
Beacon Minerals (ASX:BCN) is paying 0.1 cents fully franked

Dividends payable
Champion Iron (ASX:CIA)
Embark Early Education (ASX:EVO)
SILK Laser Australia (ASX:SLA)

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

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