In a nutshell: . US AUTO: November sales increased MoM, inventories down . RIO TINTO (+): Investor Day - first take . VALE (=): Vale Day targets - first take Daily Prices as of December 3rd / PRICE MOVERS . MACRO/COMMODITY WRAP: China on Tuesday banned exports of critical minerals gallium, germanium and antimony that have widespread military applications to the United States, a day after Washington''s latest crackdown on China''s chip sector, escalating trade tensions. Base metals traded higher on the SHFE this morning; nickel +2.6%, aluminium +1.0%, copper +0.9%, zinc +0.4%. Iron ore futures (+0.4% on Dalian) inched higher on Wednesday, buoyed by ongoing restocking activity among Chinese steel mills. Steel mills typically restock raw materials for a period of 6 to 9 weeks before the Chinese New Year holiday. With just two weeks of restocking completed so far, there remains ample room for further purchases through December. Gold (USD 2,645/oz) steady this morning as markets awaited US jobs data and comments from Fed Chair scheduled later in the day. Data released yesterday showed the US job openings increased moderately in Oct while layoffs declined. . Macro data this week: Eurozone service PMI (cons. 49.2), US ADP (cons. 158k), and US ISM service (cons. 55.4) today; Eurozone 3Q GDP (cons. +0.9% y/y) and US nonfarm payrolls (cons. 190k) on Friday. . US AUTO - November sales increased MoM, inventories down: US light vehicles sales increased MoM and were up +6% on a YoY basis, taking the November-24 SAAR to 16.66m units, +5% higher compared with the 3-month moving average. Light Trucks sales (penetration of ~81%) were up +12% YoY, compared to Passenger car sales up +5% YoY. Inventories were down both MoM and YoY. In Light truck, inventory stood at 61 days (vs 64 in Nov-24 and 49 in Nov-23) and Passenger Cars inventory stood at 44 days (vs 44/38 respectively). Overall, inventory is now at 58 days (vs 60/47). CLF (-) had flagged weaker...