Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - The bulls of November

Stocks continued their November rally this week following last month’s grim tidings thanks to a surge in tech giants. A rebound in the S&P 500’s most-influential group sent the gauge to a seven-week high Friday, rising above its key 4,400 mark and the 100-day moving average—seen as a bullish development. The Nasdaq 100 climbed the most since May, with Microsoft hitting a record and Nvidia extending its advance into an eighth session. “Stocks have staged a meaningful recovery,” said Adam Turnquist at LPL Financial. “Oversold conditions, solid earnings and a sharp pullback in interest rates have been the primary drivers.” A breakout above 4,400 would “reverse the S&P 500’s current downtrend” he said, “raising the probability that the correction lows were set last month.” —David E. Rovella

Led by the landmark gains of the United Auto Workers in their strike against the Big Three, it’s become clear that American labor is resurgent—and Wall Street has taken note. S&P 500 executives and analysts talked about unions on earnings calls more this year than any other on record, according to data going back two decades. Mentions of unions and related terms, such as strikes and labor contracts, rose almost 80% from a year ago and surged more than three-fold from 2021, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of transcripts. The subject was brought up on the calls of 81 companies, or 16% of the index.

The Hollywood strike came to an end this week, the latest in a series of major labor actions across America this year that saw unions come out with significant concessions. Photographer: John Nacion/Getty Images North America

On Thursday, trades handled by the world’s largest bank traversed Manhattan on a USB stick. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China’s US unit had been hit by a cyberattack, rendering it unable to clear swathes of US Treasury trades after entities responsible for settling the transactions swiftly disconnected from stricken systems. That forced ICBC to send the required settlement details by a messenger carrying a thumb drive. The low-tech workaround followed the attack by suspected perpetrator Lockbit, a prolific criminal gang with ties to Russia.

The Kenyan shilling fell to a fresh low against the dollar on Friday after President William Ruto reiterated plans to prematurely redeem a part of a $2 billion eurobond due in June even as the country struggles with foreign exchange flows. The unit has lost more than 19% this year, and could be headed for its worst annual performance since 2008. In Nigeria, the naira declined to a record low for the second time in about two weeks as the currency continues its wide swings in a bid to find a market level.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered his most direct criticism of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, saying more needs to be done to protect civilians. “Far too many Palestinians have been killed, far too many have suffered these past weeks,” Blinken said in New Delhi. Dozens of people were killed and wounded by an Israeli strike on parts of the Al Shifa medical complex in Gaza, Palestinian Authority radio reported. Israeli forces continued to close in on the hospital, which they contend hides a Hamas command center in tunnels below. The World Health Organization reportedly said Friday that 20 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals have ceased operating. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the death toll in Gaza since the war began now exceeds 11,000 people, including 4,506 children. Israel revised down its death toll from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war, putting the figure at about 1,200 Israelis instead of the earlier 1,400, saying that it discovered some of the casualties were actually attackers. 

Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank of Canada and others have been left holding millions of Crescent Point Energy shares after leading a C$500 million ($362 million) equity raise that failed to win widespread institutional investor support.

Eyedrops pulled from pharmacy shelves around the US last month were made in an unsanitary factory in India where workers went barefoot and made up test results so the products appeared to be safe, according to a US government report. Retailers including Walmart, CVS and Target had carried the eyedrops as store brands. They were made by a company in Navi Mumbai called Kilitch Healthcare India, according to the inspection report seen by Bloomberg News. The US Food and Drug Administration, which produced the report, didn’t name Kilitch when it told consumers on Oct. 27 not to purchase or use eyedrops from several major brands “due to risk of eye infection.”

A months-long backlog in processing labor permits is complicating US government efforts to help cities like New York cope with an influx of undocumented immigrants and ease workers shortages. In an effort to alleviate some of those pressures, the Biden administration recently announced 500,000 Venezuelans now qualify for temporary work permits. But a mounting logjam at the cash-strapped agency in charge of immigration threatens that solution.

A street vendor sells products along Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, an area with a high number of recent immigrants in New York City. The number of street vendors in the city, many operating without a license, has grown significantly in recent months following a surge of migrants from Latin America and Africa.  Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

• Apple discriminated against American workers, US says. Apple settles.
• FBI seizes devices of New York Mayor Eric Adams as probe escalates.
• Bloomberg Opinion: Hopes of US nuclear power renaissance are fading.
• What’s the most sought-after corporate benefit? Weight-loss drugs.
• Hawaii luxury hotel ditches Trump branding to join Hilton.
• An opioid-like drink is masquerading as a wholesome alcohol alternative.
• Peter Luger, the Elvis of New York steakhouses, lands in Las Vegas.

The Michelin Guide has awarded seven new stars in Turkey, the majority of them to restaurants on the nation’s Aegean coast. The laid-back seaside town of Urla, near Izmir, saw three restaurants receive one star each: Od Urla, Teruar Urla, and Vino Locale. Glitzy Bodrum, Turkey’s answer to Saint Tropez, got a star each for two restaurants: one at the Maca Kizi hotel, a regular haunt for vacationing local and international celebrities, and another for Kitchen, at the luxury Bodrum Edition hotel.

Bodrum, Turkey’s answer to Saint Tropez, got a Michelin star each for two restaurants. Photographer: Moe Zoyari/Bloomberg

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