Log in to today's North American session Market wrap for November 20
The question of whether Markets would give more emphasis to the Fed Hawkish turn or the Nvidia earnings, emitted yesterday found an answer:
Markets are not playing games anymore; Higher for longer rates may dampen investment and activity looking forward.
The year is ending on some doubts, after quite a spectacular run to new highs since April 2025.
After opening on a strong leg higher, the first resistance that traders saw got used as a mean mean-reversion point, which took the Nasdaq from up 1.50% to down 3% at its extremes.
Today was one of the most brutal reversal days that Markets have seen in a while, and similarly as last time, metals also got dragged lower.
Is the Rebasement trade going to be a thing?
(Rebasement serves as the opposite of the Debasement Trade, where Stocks, Metals and Currencies rallied against the USD).
Cross-Assets Daily Performance
Cross-Asset Daily Performance, November 20, 2025 – Source: TradingView
It seems that the Market has taken quite a turn towards safe-havens again.
All assets at the front of the risk-curve are getting rejected brutally, with Nasdaq down about 2.60% and finishes the session even below Bitcoin.
On the other hand, Gold, the USD and US Treasuries have enjoyed the session. A more typical risk-off setup.
A picture of today's performance for major currencies
Currency Performance, November 20 – Source: OANDA Labs
FX markets have decorrelated from the traditional performances one could expect to see:
Except for the US Dollar which saw another strong session, the Pound is performing well amid the ongoing risk-aversion (normally correlates positively with Stocks).
On the other hand, the even-more "risk-on" AUD and NZD did follow the theme pretty well.
With the IMF starting to send some warnings to the Australian debt issue, one could expect to see more of these flows.
A look at Economic data releasing throughout this evening and tomorrow's sessions
For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the MarketPulse Economic Calendar.
Tomorrow's going to be quite a roller coaster!
The session starts early with high-impact releases out of the UK and Europe:
GBP traders face two key events: the high-tier UK Retail Sales (3:00 A.M. ET) and the S&P Global PMIs (5:30 A.M. ET), both critical for the Bank of England’s policy path.
For the Eurozone, focus is on the preliminary HCOB PMIs (4:30 - 5:00 A.M. ET), the first look at November's economic health.
This follows ECB President Lagarde's speech, which may preempt the PMI data.
The market then shifts to the North American session:
CAD Retail Sales (9:30 A.M. ET) is the primary domestic event, a high-tier check on Canadian consumer resilience.
For the US, two major high-tier releases will drive volatility:
- S&P Global PMIs (10:45 A.M. ET): Preliminary view of November activity.
- Michigan Consumer Sentiment (11:00 A.M. ET): Key for confidence and, critically, Inflation Expectations.
The day is peppered with comments from a massive slate of central bank speakers, including FED's Williams, Barr, Jefferson, and Logan, alongside BoE's Pill and ECB officials.
Safe Trades!
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