[Good Morning Stock Market] US Stocks Rise on News of Wall Street Veteran Vesent's Nomination as Treasury Secretary

Traditional Direction Expected for Trump Economic Policy
Energy, Technology, and Bitcoin-Related Stocks Decline
KOSPI Expected to Rise on Anticipation of US Interest Rate and Dollar Declines

The U.S. stock market closed higher on news that Scott Bessent, a Wall Street veteran, was nominated as Treasury Secretary.

Reuters Yonhap News

On the 25th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 44,736.57, up 440.06 points (0.99%) from the previous session. The S&P 500 rose 18.03 points (0.3%) to 5,987.37, and the Nasdaq closed at 19,054.84, up 51.19 points (0.27%).

Scott Bessent is a financial expert who founded the hedge fund Key Square Group and served as Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at George Soros's Soros Fund Management. He also acted as an economic advisor to President Donald Trump. He proposed the '3-3-3' policy, which uses tariffs as a tool for trade negotiations and aims to reduce the fiscal deficit and improve energy self-sufficiency. Bessent's nomination raised market expectations that the Trump administration's economic policies would move in a more rational and traditional direction.

By sector, stocks related to electric vehicles (EV) and charging, solar energy, and Moderna?sectors that had concerns about Trump’s policies and cabinet appointments?successfully rebounded. The solar-related exchange-traded fund (ETF) TAN rose 4.1%, and Moderna increased by 6.2%. All sectors except energy and technology rose.

On the other hand, Tesla (-4.0%) and MicroStrategy (-4.4%), a Bitcoin-related stock, declined. The energy sector also fell alongside Bessent’s nomination, which advocates for increased production. ExxonMobil dropped 1.49%, and Chevron fell 1.23%. Some technology stocks, including Nvidia (-4.18%) and Netflix (-3.59%), also declined. This has been interpreted as investors taking profits ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday (November 28?29).

Quincy Crosby, Chief Global Strategist at LPL Financial, said, "The market’s reaction today was textbook positive," adding, "This is the market applauding, and we could not expect a better response."

This week will see the release of major economic indicators. On the 26th, the minutes of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting held on November 6?7 will be released. On the following day, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index will be announced. The market expects the October PCE price index to rise 0.2% month-over-month and 2.3% year-over-year. On the same day, the preliminary third-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures will be released.

The previous day, the KOSPI closed at 2,534.34, up 1.32% from the previous trading day. Institutional investors led the buying, driving the index higher. Kiwoom Securities researchers Han Ji-young and Lee Seong-hoon said, "Despite the possibility of short-term profit-taking, the easing of concerns about Trump’s second-term policies, the decline in U.S. interest rates and the dollar, and expectations for year-end consumption are expected to support a rising trend, particularly in U.S. consumer stocks." They added, "Although pessimism about the domestic stock market has prevailed since the U.S. presidential election in November, the level of pessimism appears to be gradually decreasing over time."