Weekly news summary for November 18 to November 24
Friday, Nov. 18: AB InBev Surges amid Qatar World Cup Beer Ban
Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev appeared unaffected by Qatari authorities’ decision to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The stock of the world’s largest brewer was trading 0.94% higher on Friday, despite Qatar’s move to forbid sales putting AB InBev’s $75 million tournament sponsorship at risk.
Monday, Nov. 21: Walt Disney Rises on Robert Iger’s Return as CEO
Shares of Walt Disney Co. were up 9% in premarket trading after the company announced that it had replaced Chief Executive Bob Chapek with Robert Iger, its former chairman and head.
Iger was given a two-year contract, while the US media giant let go of Chapek after seeing its stock shed almost half its value in the past 12 months due to increasing costs of competing with Netflix Inc. for dominance in the streaming space.
Tuesday, Nov. 22: Oil Gains 1% as OPEC+ Sticks With Output Cuts
Oil prices climbed around 1% on Tuesday after major exporter Saudi Arabia said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies would maintain plans for reduced output and may carry out additional steps to balance the market.
Brent crude futures rose 1% to $88.36 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures added 1.1% to $80.95 per barrel, but gains later eased after reports of the European Union (EU) moderating its latest sanctions proposal for a price curb on Russian oil exports.
Wednesday, Nov. 23: Eurozone Preliminary Manufacturing PMI Climbs
The Eurozone manufacturing sector surged, although it remained in contraction territory in November, confirming that the bloc’s economy fell in the month but at a less severe level than markets expected.
Flash reading from S&P Global showed that the Eurozone’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was up 47.3 in November from 46.4 in October, hitting a two-month high and surpassing estimates of 46.0.
Thursday, Nov. 24: Asian Currencies Soar on Dovish Fed Minutes
Most Asian currencies edged higher on Thursday, while the dollar fell 0.3% as a fairly dovish tone from the Federal Reserve raised the possibility of US inflation peaking and the central bank slowing down on increasing interest rates in the coming months.
The South Korean won performed well on the day, gaining 0.8% after the Bank of Korea (BOK) hiked rates by a modest 25 basis points, while the Japanese yen added 0.6% following a holiday on Wednesday, and the Chinese yuan rose 0.4%.
