US equity markets opened the new trading week sharply higher after logging their worst Thanksgiving week since 2011 - Dow up +354-points or +1.46% General Motors gained +4.8% after the automaker announced plans to cull 15% of its North American workforce. The broader S&P500 +1.55%, NASDAQ +2.06%, with Amazon.com Inc jumping +5.3% amid reports of strong Black Friday sales and as Cyber Monday kicked off. Microsoft Corporation (up +3.3%) dethroned Apple Inc (+1.35%) as the most valuable company in the US, with a market capitalisation of ~US$182B versus Apple at ~US$1B less. Apple's market cap reached a peak above US$1.12 trillion in August.
