Stock Markets close down another 1% – Market wrap for the North American session - November 17

Log in to today's North American session Market wrap for November 17

Markets opened the week on some fragile risk-sentiment to continue what has been going on since the end-October price peaks.

Cryptocurrencies have led the risk-unwinding. Bitcoin plunged to its lowest level since early May, trading around $92,000 at the close. This action, marking a multi-month low, is starting to scare investors, particularly the most leveraged ones.

Today's drop was not just surrounded by Tech and AI names.

The Dow Jones also took a severe hit, shedding 550 points, closing down 1.2%.

Sectors that had performed solidly last week, like Financials, Consumer Defensive, and Energy, got rejected harshly.

Despite the selloff, Fed Governor Christopher Waller has tried to tone things down, with his perspective suggesting that data argues for the policy rate to be closer to neutral.

For those who don't know, Waller could also be playing the political game, being one of the contenders to replace Jerome Powell at the end of his term in May 2026.

However, the market seems to say that it's too late now to reassure the herd. Still relatively close to their all-time highs, the drops are swift but remain orderly.

However, traders and investors will need to be ready in case things escalate and the current profit-taking turns into something much bigger.

Read More:

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Bitcoin drags the attention from other assets yet again, with another 4% decrease in today's session (and much worse for most other altcoins).

Oil on the other hand has held economic fear-flows much better than expected, with the past week's drop not seeing any continuation. It is way to early to call a bottom in energy commodities, but some interesting developments are happening over these markets.

Keep an eye on Gold (take a look at our most recent analysis right here) and US indices to gauge market sentiment and the potential unwinding of the 2025 trades.

After many days of pulling back, the US dollar is making a return as the safe-haven currency of the session while most others struggled.

Resilient performers have also been the GBP and CAD, which had both seen rough performance last month, while the CHF and JPY hang around unchanged, not characteristic of a typical risk-off session.

Some noticeable moves did happen throughout the session with some major stops kicking through as USD/JPY rose above 155.00, and the Euro reached all-time highs against the yen. Luckily for the Japanese currency, the Kiwi and Aussie dollars struggled even more with the risk-off environment.

The Monday session wraps with the Australia’s RBA Minutes and could spark further late-session moves in AUD pairs.

Tuesday opens with speeches from the ECB’s Elderson and BoE’s Pill, setting the tone before a run of US numbers.

The second weekly ADP’s employment change release expected to maintain the most recent weakening trend in private employment at around -11k jobs.

The day closes with a full slate of Asia-Pacific data: Japan posts mixed trade figures with weak imports and a wider deficit, New Zealand releases Q3 PPI, and Australia’s Wage Price Index offers another read on how sticky domestic inflation remains for the RBA.

Safe Trades!

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