​EBC Markets Briefing | Wall St firms; PayPal Holdings back into the spotlight

US stocks rallied on Friday as investors increased bets that the Fed will cut interest rates next month, while all three of the major indexes posted losses for the week amid concerns over lofty technology valuations.

The Nasdaq 100 fell for a third straight week in its longest run of weekly losses since February. Shares of Nvidia briefly jumped after the Trump administration is reportedly considering to allow sales of the H200 chips to China.

Tech stocks also saw a $4.4 billion inflow in the week to Wednesday, ‌BofA said in their weekly, while there was a weekly outflow of $2.2 billion, the second largest outflow on ⁠record.

Bulls see the boom as a monumental tech revolution. AI developers' ambitious spending plans and rapid user adoption indicate the rally will persist, according to Fidelity International.

The key in the coming week will be strength in consumption with Black Friday putting the spotlight on the holiday shopping season, after recent readings showed a slump in consumer sentiment.

This month, the National Retail Federation said it expected holiday sales to surpass $1 trillion for the first time. Still, that November-December forecast equated to growth of between 3.7% and 4.2% from one year earlier.

There were few signs of a reversal of the Nasdaq 100's bearish bias as it remained well below 50 SMA. We see another push below 24,400 by the end of December.

Asset recap

As of market close on 21 November, among EBC products, PayPal shares led gains. The firm has lagged for years amid softer growth, but it was ion investors' radar again.

The SNB lifted its position in shares of Texas Instruments by 7.1% during Q2, according to its most recent disclosure. The stock has struggled with cautious management outlook recently.

A long-awaited jobs report offered a mixed picture of the US labour market. The economy added 119,000 jobs in September, an unexpected rebound, which increased confidence on local small businesses.

EBC Financial Group Disclaimer: This material is for general information purposes only and is not intended as (and should not be considered to be) financial, investment or other advice on which reliance should be placed. No opinion given in the material constitutes a recommendation by EBC Global Financial Collaboration or the author that any particular investment, security, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person.