This is CNBC’s live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets are set for a positive start to the week as investors await key economic data out from major economies around the region, including China and Japan.
China will release its official factory activity figures for November on Thursday, while the Caixin survey for the same metric will be out on Friday.
Australia and Japan will release their October inflation figures on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, which will give clues to future moves by their respective central banks.
India’s gross domestic product numbers for the three months ended September will also be released late Thursday.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the day up 0.11%, on pace for a third straight day of gains.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 is also set to rise, with the futures contract in Chicago at 33,745 and its counterpart in Osaka at 33,740 against the index’s last close of 33,625.
At this level, the index is close to breaching its 33-year high of 33,753,33, achieved on July 3.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,670, pointing to a stronger open compared with the HSI’s close of 17,559.42.
On Friday in the U.S., the three major indexes were mixed in a shortened trading session.
The 30-stock Dow rose 0.33% while the S&P 500 ticked higher by 0.06%. However, the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.11%.
Major retail shares rose slightly as Black Friday kicked off the holiday shopping season. Walmart and Target rose 0.9% and 0.74%, respectively, while Amazon ticked higher by 0.02%.
— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
Dow heads for first 4-week win streak since April, boosted by Boeing
The Dow is on track to post its longest weekly winning streak in about half of a year.
With just a few hours left in Friday’s shortened trading day, the blue-chip index is poised to finish the week up nearly 1%. If that holds, it would mark the first time the index has notched four straight winning weeks since a streak that ended in April.
A chunk of this week’s gains are tied to a rally of more than 6% in Boeing. Investors first cheered a Deutsche Bank upgrade to buy from hold on Monday. On Wednesday, the airplane maker receiving clearance to start flight testing for 737 MAX 10 certification.
Verizon and Travelers were the next best performers on the week, climbing around 3.4% and 3%, respectively. But Walgreens and Caterpillar restricted gains for the 30-stock index, with both down more than 2% this week.
— Alex Harring
Shoppers snagged toys, jewelry and other gifts as Thanksgiving sales hit record $5.6 billion
Many national retailers kept their stores shuttered on Thursday, but that didn’t mean consumers weren’t shopping. In fact, Adobe Analytics reports online spending hit a record $5.6 billion on Thanksgiving, up 5.5% year over year. The firm, which tracks more than 85% of the top 100 internet retailers in the U.S., anticipates spending on Black Friday will reach $9.6 billion, which would be about 5.7% higher than the same day last year.
Adobe said toys has been selling well, with sales in the category up 182% year over year. Jewelry also has seen big demand (up 126%) and apparel (up 124%), it said.
The SPDR S&P Retail ETF was flat ahead of a shortened trading session on Friday.
The big question will be what happens after this five-day period known for its deals and promotions. Analysts expect consumers to be very focused on value, which means they will be hunting for bargains. Retailers are planning events as one strategy to reel in reluctant consumers.
—Christina Cheddar Berk
Bitcoin rises to new high for the year on Friday, hitting $38,000
Bitcoin touched $38,001.71 around 6:45 a.m. Eastern time, marking the first time since April 2022, according to Coin Metrics. It was last higher by about 1.5% at $37,863.25 and on pace to end the week higher by 4%.
Meanwhile, ether has moved back above the key psychological level of $2,000, last trading nearly 2% higher at $2,105.65. The second largest token by market cap is outperforming the crypto market this week, on pace to end up more than 8%.
Solana, the big outperformer on the year – up 480% compared to bitcoin’s 130% – trailed the major tokens this week. It’s heading for a gain of less than 1%.
— Tanaya Macheel
Bullishness at almost 4-month high among retail investors; bearishness at 4-month low
Individual investor bullishness about the outlook for stocks over the next six months climbed again for a third week, to 45.3% from 43.8%, according to the latest survey from the American Association of Individual Investors. That marked the highest level of optimism since August 2, or almost four months ago.
Bullishness stayed…
Read More: Asian markets poised for positive start as region awaits key data out of China