The rise continues on Wall Street

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer fell 5.1 percent. After disappointing study results, the company has decided not to go ahead with a diet pill venture. Not only were the results weaker than analysts had expected, many patients are said to have withdrawn because of the side effects.

FED warns

The broad rise in recent weeks has come despite warnings from Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell. In a speech at Spelman College in Atlanta on Friday, the chief stated that it is too early to speculate on interest rate cuts.

– It is too early to conclude that we have reached a sufficient level in our monetary policy. It is too early to speculate when the restrictive policy will be softened.

On Friday afternoon, new PMI figures came from the US which showed that the level of activity in industry decreased as expected in November. S&P Global’s final purchasing managers’ index for last month fell as expected from 50.0 to 49.4 points, according to Trading Economics.

The more closely followed ISM index for industry remained unchanged at 46.7 in November, while the expectation was an increase to 47.6 points. In October, it fell to 46.7 points, well below consensus, after reaching 49 points and the highest level in ten months in September. 50 points is the difference between decreasing and increasing activity levels.

The oil price

OPEC+ agreed on Thursday to extend the voluntary cuts by 900,000 barrels to a total of 2.2 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2024. This is lower than the market expected beforehand, and oil prices fell.

A barrel of North Sea oil fell 1.6 percent to $79.1 a barrel, while US light oil fell 1.6 percent to crude stands at $74.4 a barrel

The drop in oil prices did not significantly affect the oil companies on Friday. ExxonMobil fell 0.2 percent, while Chevron rose 0.8 percent. ConocoPhilips fell 0.3 percent.

Tanker companies benefit from lower OPEC cuts than expected. DHT rose 2.6 percent, while John Fredriksen’s Frontline ended up 1.4 percent. Herbjørn Hansson’s Nordic American Tankers rose 4.1 percent.