US Wrap…  US WRAP… SPX: -0.09% % NDX: -0.14% INDU +0.04% ESA: +0.16%

US equities gave up early gains on Wednesday to finish modestly lower as Big Tech shares pulled back following a historic November rally. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester signalled she would support continuing to hold rates steady at the December meeting, to assess whether inflation is on a path back to 2%. The Atlanta Fed’s Raphael Bostic said he’s growing increasingly confident that inflation is firmly on a downward trajectory, while his Richmond counterpart Thomas Barkin argued the central bank should keep the option to hike. Investors are waiting to see if Fed Chair Jerome Powell reinforces that message when he speaks Friday.

Asia Morning…  HSI -0.13%, NKY +0.33%, SHCOMP -0.07%, ASX +0.74% KOSPI +0.12%

Asian region posting marginal gains with Japan & Auz leading the way higher. Market participants seem to be shrugging off a weak set of economic data on expectations that Beijing will ramp up support for the flagging economy. HK has bounced of its intraday lows after activity in China’s manufacturing and services sectors shrank in November, adding to expectations of further government support for the economy. HS Tech index is trading-0.90% and Tencent bucking the trend trading +1.51%. In Japan, stocks stocks nudged higher as data showed the nation’s industrial production in October was stronger than expected, while retail sales fell short of estimates.

Commodity action… Gold steadied — after a five-day rally that’s pushed it close to an all-time high — ahead of US data that may solidify bets the Federal Reserve will be able to start cutting rates in the first half of next year. Oil steadied after a two-day advance as traders count down to a key meeting that will see OPEC+ set output policy into the new year. OPEC+ heavyweight Saudi Arabia is pressing fellow members to join it in restraining output to stave off a renewed oil surplus next year, but is facing pushback from nations including Angola and Nigeria before a virtual meeting today. Copper held near the highest level in more than 10 weeks as the potential shutdown of a major mine in Panama countered a weaker-than-expected reading for China’s factory activity in November.

Themes for the day – Citywire company ratings. 

Citywire rate companies on their popularity with the world’s best equity portfolio managers.

Drawing on academic research that points to stockmarket outperformance from the best investors’ highest-conviction positions*, and applying a methodology approved by independent analysts AKG, they select the top performers from the 10,000 equity portfolio managers Citywire rates and track the shares they’re betting on.