World markets kicked off November in an upbeat mood, riffing off buoyant company earnings and calmer trade relations while batting away OPEC's planned end to output hikes and this week's Supreme Court hearing on President Donald Trump's tariffs. Following last week's meeting between Trump and China's President Xi Jinping in South Korea, the White House announced Saturday that China would lift export controls on rare earths and end probes into U.S. chip firms. But Trump said AI giant Nvidia's most advanced chips would be reserved for U.S. companies and kept out of China and other...
Private businesses in the US added 122K workers to their payrolls in December 2024, the least in four months, compared to 146K in November and below forecasts of 140K. "The labor market downshifted to a more modest pace of growth in the final month of 2024, with a slowdown in both hiring and pay gains. Health care stood out in the second half of the year, creating more jobs than any other sector", said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. The service-producing sector added 112K jobs, led by education/health services (57K); leisure/hospitality (22K); financial activities (12K);...
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to 201K in the week ending Jan. 5, 2025 That was down from the estimate of 214K and the previous weekly reading of 211K, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Source: Newsmaker23
Job openings rose by 259,000 to 8.098 million in November 2024, from an upwardly revised 7.839 million in October and above market expectations of 7.70 million. Job openings rose in professional and business services (+273,000), finance and insurance (+105,000), and private educational services (+38,000) but declined in information (-89,000). Meanwhile, total hires and total layoffs were flat at 5.3 million and 5.1 million, respectively. In layoffs, resignations fell by 218,000 to 3.1 million and layoffs and terminations were flat at 1.8 million. Source: Trading Economics
Economic activity in the US services sector accelerated in December, with the ISM Services PMI rising to 54.1 from 52.1 in November. This reading was higher than the market expectation of 53.3. Other details from the report showed that the Prices Paid Index, a component of inflation, rose to 64.4 from 58.2, while the Employment Index fell to 51.4 from 51.5. Market reaction The US dollar strengthened against other major currencies in an immediate reaction. At the time of writing, the USD Index was up 0.2% on the day at 108.52. Source: FXStreet
The ISM Manufacturing PMI rose 0.9 points from the previous month to 49.3 in December 2024, beating market expectations of 48.4. The reading reflected the slowest pace of contraction in the U.S. manufacturing sector since March's 50.3 reading, the only expansion in the industry since September 2022. A gauge measuring new orders came in at 52.5, reflecting the strongest level of new orders in 11 months, suggesting that lower output for manufacturers may be nearing a bottom despite the Fed's prolonged interest rate tightening. In turn, a gauge measuring the prices faced by businesses rose to...
Asia-Pacific markets traded higher, tracking Wall Street gains overnight.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.41% after hitting a fresh record high on Thursday, while the Topix added 0.61%. South...
Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered around the flatline on Friday, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of further developments in trade talks between US President Trump and Chinese...
As the U.S. government shutdown disrupts federal employee paychecks across the country, it also exacerbates the financial hardship of attorneys who represent the poorest members of society when they...