Strong Jobs Data May Add To Interest Rate Concerns

[ADVFN]( [[Global Email] World Daily Markets Bulletin]( Thursday, 05 January 2023 13:12:20 [ADVFN Twitter]( [Monitor]( [Quote]( [Charts]( [News]( [Toplists]( [Boards]( [New Battery Tech to "Eat Lithium?s Lunch"?]( The lithium-ion battery transformed Tesla from the laughingstock of the auto industry into the biggest car company in history. It can store energy up to 94% cheaper than a Tesla lithium-ion battery. It?s a "totally new approach to battery technology,"" says the U.S. Department of Energy. [Click here for the full story.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- US Market Bitcoin [Bitcoin]( DAX [DAX]( Dow Jones [Dow Jones]( Nasdaq [Nasdaq]( The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Thursday, with stocks likely to give back ground after ending yesterday?s volatile session mostly higher. The futures came under pressure following the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector employment in the U.S. jumped by much more than expected in the month of December. ADP said private sector employment shot up by 235,000 jobs in December after surging by an upwardly revised 182,000 jobs in November. Economists had expected employment to jump by about 150,000 jobs compared to the addition of 127,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. While the stronger than expected job growth points to continued strength in the labor market, the data may also add to concerns about the outlook for interest rates. Traders worry continued labor market tightness could encourage the Federal Reserve to continue aggressively raising interest rates in the coming months. On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched employment report for the month of December. Economists currently expect employment to jump by 200,000 jobs in December after surging by 263,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.7 percent. Stocks saw wild fluctuations over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before eventually finishing the day mostly higher. The major averages spent much of the day swinging back and forth across the unchanged line. The major averages all finished the day in positive territory after starting off the New Year on a negative note. The Dow rose 133.40 points or 0.4 percent to 33,269.77, the Nasdaq climbed 71.78 points or 0.7 percent to 10,458.76 and the S&P 500 advanced 28.83 points or 0.8 percent at 3,852.97. The substantial volatility on the day came as traders awaited and subsequently reacted to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's December monetary policy, which reinforced expectations the central bank is likely to continuing raising interest rates. The minutes reiterated that officials continue to anticipate that ongoing rate increases would be appropriate to achieve the Fed's dual objectives of maximum employment and price stability. The Fed noted that the pace of future rate hikes would take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments. At the meeting, the Fed decided to raise interest rates by 50 basis points, which marked a slowdown in the pace of rate hikes following four consecutive 75 basis point increases. The Fed minutes noted all participants also raised their assessment of the appropriate path of interest rates, while none anticipated that it would be appropriate to begin reducing rates in 2023. "Participants generally observed that a restrictive policy stance would need to be maintained until the incoming data provided confidence that inflation was on a sustained downward path to 2 percent, which was likely to take some time," the Fed said. The central bank added, "In view of the persistent and unacceptably high level of inflation, several participants commented that historical experience cautioned against prematurely loosening monetary policy." On the U.S. economic front, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. manufacturing activity contracted at a slightly faster rate in the month of December. The ISM said its manufacturing PMI edged down to 48.4 in December from 49.0 in November, with a reading below 50 indicating a contraction. Economists had expected the index to slip to 48.5. Manufacturing activity contracted for the second consecutive month after expanding for 29 straight months, with the manufacturing PMI falling to its lowest level since hitting 43.5 in May 2020. Paul Ashworth, Chief North America Economist at Capital Economics, called the decrease by the manufacturing PMI "another sign that the economy was losing momentum at the tail-end of last year." Airline stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 6.4 percent. Substantial strength was also visible among gold stocks, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 4.9 percent to a nearly seven-month closing high. The rally by gold stocks came amid a continued increase by the price of the precious metal. Semiconductor stocks also turned in a strong performance on the day, resulting in a 2.7 percent jump by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Tobacco, banking and commercial real estate stocks also saw considerable strength, while software stocks moved to the downside amid a steep drop by Microsoft (MSFT). Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) tumbled by 4.4 percent after UBS downgraded its rating on the software giant's stock to Neutral from Buy. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Investing Secret of the 1% Unlocked for the First Time]( You probably haven?t heard, but there's an overlooked investment opportunity predicted to surge to $2.7 trillion by 2026. It's not crypto and it's not stocks ? but the 1% have been using it to help protect their wealth for centuries. In fact, this market just had its best year ever, hauling in nearly $18 billion, even while financial markets plummeted. Here's the best part: One investment platform has unlocked this exclusive asset class for you, and ordinary investors around the world. In fact, one member recently earned over $65,339*. See important Regulation A [disclosures.]( [Exclusive Offer for World Daily Markets Bulletin Readers: Click here to uncover the secret.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Economic Reports CADUSD [CADUSD]( Oil [Oil]( Gold [Gold]( EURUSD [EURUSD]( Payroll processor ADP released a report on Thursday showing private sector employment in the U.S. jumped by much more than expected in the month of December. ADP said private sector employment shot up by 235,000 jobs in December after surging by an upwardly revised 182,000 jobs in November. Economists had expected employment to jump by about 150,000 jobs compared to the addition of 127,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The report noted the job resurgence in the last two months of 2022 was led by consumer-facing service industries. The Labor Department also released a report showing a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended December 31st. The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 204,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week?s revised level of 223,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 225,000 originally reported for the previous week. The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 213,750, a decrease of 6,750 from the previous week?s revised average of 220,500. A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed significantly more than expected in the month of November. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit shrank to $61.5 billion in November from a revised $77.8 billion in October. Economists had expected the trade deficit to narrow to $74.0 billion from the $78.2 billion originally reported for the previous month. The much narrower than expected trade deficit came as the value of imports plunged by 6.4 percent to $313.4 billion, while the value of exports slumped by 2.0 percent to $251.9 billion. At 9:20 am ET, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic is due to give welcome remarks before the Federal Reserve Day Ahead Conference on Financial Markets and Institutions. The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its report on oil inventories in the week ended December 30th at 11 am ET. Also at 11 am ET, the Treasury Department is due to announce the details of this month?s auctions of three-year and ten-year notes and thirty-year bonds. St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard is scheduled to give an in-person presentation on the U.S. economy and monetary policy before the CFA Society and St. Louis Rotary Club at 1:20 pm ET. --------------------------------------------------------------- [3 Tiny Stocks Primed to Explode]( The world's greatest investor ? Warren Buffett ? has a simple formula for making big money in the markets. He buys up valuable assets when they are very cheap. For stock market investors that means buying up cheap small cap stocks like these with huge upside potential. We've set up an alert service to help smart investors take full advantage of the small cap stocks primed for big returns. [Click here for full details and to join for free.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Stocks in Focus Shares of Silvergate Capital (SI) are moving sharply lower in pre-market trading after the crypto-focused bank reported a steep drop in digital asset deposits in the fourth quarter following FTX?s collapse. Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) is also seeing pre-market weakness despite reporting better than expected fiscal first quarter earnings and raising its full-year revenue forecast. On the other hand, shares of Western Digital (WDC) are likely to see initial strength after a report from Bloomberg said the data storage company has restarted merger talks with Japan?s Kioxia Holdings. Online retail giant Amazon (AMZN) may also move to the upside after the company announced plans to cut more than 18,000 jobs. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Sell every Stock except ONE]( Markets are down... But Jeff Clark couldn't care less because he ignores almost every stock in the market except ONE. He lives financially free trading this One Stock Once per month... [Ticker Revealed.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Europe European stocks are turning in a mixed performance on Thursday following recent strength, as traders digest the latest economic data as well as the minutes of the Federal Reserve?s December meeting. The minutes showed that Fed officials are committed to keeping interest rates high throughout 2023 to curb "unacceptably high" inflation. Growing worries about a lack of data and transparency surrounding China's COVID outbreak also kept investors on tenterhooks. While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.4 percent. Next Plc shares have spiked percent after the clothing retailer raised its pre-tax profit forecast for the current year, defying gloom about weakening consumption and the U.K.'s cost-of-living crisis. Bakery chain Greggs has also moved to the upside after reporting strong double-digit growth in fourth-quarter sales. B&M European Value Retail has also advanced. The variety discounter announced a special dividend after reporting an uptick in sales in its third quarter. Technip Energies N.V. shares have also jumped in Paris. The engineering and technology firm said that it has renewed a framework agreement contract for Project Management Consultancy by Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) for another five years. LafargeHolcim has edged up slightly. The Swiss maker of building materials has acquired Chrono Chape, a French provider of on-site self-leveling screeds for an undisclosed amount. Meanwhile, Galliford Try Holdings has fallen. The construction group said it has won a £95 million contract to deliver a new prison facility at HMP Rye Hill, near Rugby in Warwickshire. On a light day on the economic front, data showed German construction activity saw little improvement towards the end of last year. The U.K. final services PMI for December came in at 49.9 versus an earlier flash reading of 50.0. --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you have a full view of the market? Level 2 lets you see all of the orders to buy and sell shares, allowing you to see what is really going on in the market. If you don?t have this in your trading toolkit, you?re at a serious disadvantage. [Learn More / Upgrade]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Asia USDCAD [USDCAD]( USDEUR [USDEUR]( USDGBP [USDGBP]( USDJPY [USDJPY]( Asian stocks advanced on Thursday, as investors reacted to modestly hawkish Federal Reserve minutes and data showing a slight improvement in Chinese services sector activity. Gold hovered near a seven-month peak as the dollar index extended losses ahead of key U.S. jobs data due on Friday that could influence the Federal Reserve's policy trajectory. Oil prices rose about 1 percent in Asian trading after opening the year down more than 9 percent, the worst yearly start in over three decades. China's Shanghai Composite Index rallied 1.0 percent to 3,155.22 after a private survey showed services activity in the country contracted at a slower pace in December. Also aiding sentiment, China's central bank said it would step up financing support to spur domestic demand and support a stable real estate market in 2023. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.3 percent to 21,052.17 on hopes for China's emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese government announced that it would reopen its border with Hong Kong on January 8, nearly three years after it was largely shut in an effort to contain the spread of COVID. Japanese shares eked out modest gains as a weaker yen boosted exporters and tech shares followed their U.S. peers higher. The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.4 percent to 25,820.80, while the broader Topix settled marginally higher at 1,868.90. Sony, SoftBank Group, Advantest and Tokyo Electron climbed 2-4 percent. Nippon Sheet Glass topped the gainers list, surging 7.6 percent. Seoul stocks closed higher for a second straight session, with financials and chip-related shares pacing the gainers. The Kospi inched up 0.4 percent to 2,264.65. Hana Financial Group, KB Financial Group and Shinhan Group surged 7-8 percent on expectations the government's recent easing of property regulations could increase demand for loans. Australian stocks ended off their day's highs as energy stocks tumbled, offsetting gains in the financial and technology sectors. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index finished marginally higher at 7,063.60, while the broader All Ordinaries Index edged up 0.1 percent to 7,259.30. Santos and Woodside Energy Group dropped 1-2 percent after oil prices opened the year with steep losses on fuel demand concerns. Warrego Energy soared more than 10 percent after Gina Rinehart's Hancock Energy sweetened its takeover offer for the company. --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you day trade? Trader Alerts streams stocks reaching new highs and lows as well as stocks breaking out of previous volume highs as they happen. It?s a powerful tool for day trading ideas. [Learn More / Upgrade]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Commodities Crude oil futures are jumping $1.35 to $74.19 a barrel after plummeting $4.09 to $72.84 barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after climbing $12.90 to $1,859 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are falling $11.40 to $1,847.60 an ounce. On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 133.47 yen versus the 132.63 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0571 compared to yesterday?s $1.0604. --------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this news bulletin or edit your mailing list settings click [here](. Registered Office/Accounts Dept: Suite 27, Essex Technology Centre, The Gable, Fyfield Road, Ongar, CM5 0GA. Customer Support +1 888-992-3836. Company registered in England and Wales: Number 2374988 VAT No. GB 549 2130 49