Stock Market Today: Stocks stall and gold price at record as rate-cut bets hold

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U.S. equity futures slipped lower Monday, while the dollar held steady against its global peers as investors braced for a key week of jobs data. Those reports could test market bets on a near-term rate cut and pressure the developing end-of-year rally. 

Updated at 7:45 AM EST

Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report shares were slipping lower in pre-market trading, down 0.25% at $238.25 each, following official figures from China showing the biggest slump in domestic sales in nearly a year, underscoring the challenge it faces in meeting its 1.8 million 2023 delivery goal.

Related: Tesla China sales slump as rival BYD grabs market share

Stock Market Today

Stocks ended higher on Friday, lifting the S&P 500 to its highest close of the year and extending one of the best November rallies on record into the final month of the year.

The gains came, however, even as Federal Chairman Jerome Powell attempted to lean against market bets on a springtime rate hike. He told an event at Spelman College in Atlanta that inflation risks remain elevated and that it was too soon to begin speculating about easing interest-rate policy.

Despite that warning, markets see at least five quarter-percentage-point rate reductions from the Fed next year, beginning in March, as the economy slows and inflation cools.

Limited public comment from the Fed

Fed officials will be restricted in their public comment until their next rate-setting meeting, which begins December 12, which likely leaves markets to focus on this week's parade of job-market data, including Friday's November employment report, to support the current rate forecasts.

The Labor Department on Tuesday will publish its closely tracked reading of October job openings, with ADP's November employment report following Wednesday and the official nonfarm-payroll report arriving Friday. 

Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields were last trading at 4.247% heading into the Monday session, little changed from last week's levels, while 2-year notes eased to 4.602%.

Gold at record and bitcoin at 19-month peak $41K

The larger moves, however, were in gold and bitcoin, with the bullion hitting a fresh all-time high of $2,135 per ounce in overnight trading and  the world's biggest digital currency touched a 19-month peak past $41,000, as investors looked to shelter themselves from a weakened U.S. dollar.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currency peers, was marked 0.12% higher at 103.390 in early Monday trading, but has fallen some 3.3% since stocks began their current really in late October.

Stocks are set for a modestly weaker open Monday, with futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 priced for a 19 point decline. Those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed at a January high of 36,245.50 points, were set for a 75 point pullback. The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is looking at a 90 point decline at the start of trading.

Oil prices in the red

In other markets, global oil prices were firmly in the red Monday, with little impact from reports Iran-backed Houthi rebels orchestrated a drone attack on two Israeli ships in the Red Sea, ultimately leading to an intervention from the U.S.S. Carney. 

Brent crude contracts for February delivery were marked 94 cents lower at $77.92 per barrel while WTI contracts for January fell 91 cents to $73.15 per barrel. 

In overseas markets, European stocks were modestly lower to start the week, with the Stoxx 600 down 0.05% in early Frankfurt trading. Investors tracked both U.S. futures and a host of regional economic data later this week.

Overnight in Asia, the regionwide MSCI ex-Japan index slipped 0.11% into the close of trading, with stocks in Hong Kong down 1.1%. That's even as indebted China-based property developer Evergrande Group won the right to a hearing on its eventual restructuring in late January. 

Stocks in Japan, meanwhile, fell 0.6% as the yen extended its recent run of gains, rising to a near three-month high against the dollar.

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