Futures Move To The Upside Following Mixed U.S. Economic Data

[ADVFN]( [[Global Email] World Daily Markets Bulletin]( Thursday, 25 January 2024 08:58:48 [ADVFN Twitter]( [Monitor]( [Quote]( [Charts]( [News]( [Toplists]( [Boards]( Breaking: Price of Gold & Silver set to EXPLODE in 2023! Read Now... Attention investors and retirement savers...Investment experts and even mainstream news publications are predicting a windfall for gold and silver prices in 2023! This could be the year we see the value of precious metals like gold and silver EXPLODE! You won't want to miss out! [Reserve Your FREE Gold & Silver Kit Today!]( --------------------------------------------------------------- US Market Bitcoin [Bitcoin]( DAX [DAX]( Dow Jones [Dow Jones]( Nasdaq [Nasdaq]( The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Thursday, with stocks likely to move back to the upside after pulling back well off their highs late in the previous session. The futures had been pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets but have risen following the release of a mixed batch of U.S. economic data. While the Commerce Department released a report showing stronger than expected U.S. economic growth in the fourth quarter, separate reports showed durable goods orders were unexpectedly flat in December as well as a notable rebound in weekly jobless claims. Traders may shrug off the fourth quarter GDP data as old news and see the more recent economic data as optimistic about the likelihood of future interest rate cuts. The Commerce Department released a report this morning showing the U.S. economy grew by much more than expected in the fourth quarter of 2023. The report said gross domestic product shot up by 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter after surging by 4.9 percent in the third quarter. Economists had expected GDP to jump by 2.0 percent. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department also released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly came in unchanged in the month of December. The report said durable goods orders were virtually unchanged in December after surging by an upwardly revised 5.5 percent in November. Economists had expected durable goods orders to jump by 1.1 percent compared to the 5.4 percent spike that had been reported for the previous month. Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders increased by 0.6 percent in December after climbing by 0.5 percent in November. Ex-transportation orders were expected to inch up by 0.2 percent. A separate report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded by more than expected in the week ended January 20th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 214,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised level of 189,000. Economists had expected initial jobless claims to rise to 200,000 from the 187,000 originally reported for the previous week. Stocks showed a strong move to the upside in early trading on Wednesday but gave back ground over the course of the session. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session in afternoon trading, with the Dow sliding into negative territory. The major averages eventually ended the session mixed. While the Nasdaq rose 55.98 points or 0.4 percent to 15,481.92 and the S&P 500 inched up 3.95 points or 0.1 percent to 4,868.55, the Dow fell 99.06 points or 0.3 percent to 37,806.39. Despite the afternoon pullback, the S&P 500 crept up to a new record closing high and the Nasdaq reached its best closing level in over two years. Technology stocks helped lead the way higher in early trading on Wall Street, with shares of Netflix (NFLX) soaring by 10.7 percent on the day. Netflix rallied after the streaming giant reported better than expected fourth quarter revenues on stronger than expected subscriber growth. Dutch chip equipment maker ASML (ASML) also spiked by 8.9 percent after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results. The strong results added to optimism about earnings from other tech companies, with IBM Corp. (IBM) among the companies releasing their quarter results after the close of today's trading. Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, potentially reflecting renewed interest rate concerns amid a rebound by treasury yields. Yields moved lower early in the session but showed a significant turnaround as the day progressed following some upbeat U.S. economic data and a disappointing five-year note auction. Despite the pullback by the broader markets, oil service stocks continue to see substantial strength resulting in a 3.1 percent spike by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The rally by oil service stocks came as the price of crude oil increased following the release of a report showing a much bigger than expected weekly decrease in crude oil inventories. Significant strength also remained visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index reached a new record closing high. While ASML led the sector higher, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) also posted a standout gain after New Street Research upgraded its rating on the chip maker's stock to Buy from Neutral. Meanwhile, gold stocks moved sharply lower amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 3.0 percent. Telecom stocks also came under pressure over the course of the session, with the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index slumping by 2.1 percent. Industry giant AT&T (T) tumbled by 3.0 after reporting weaker than expected first quarter earnings and forecasting 2024 earnings below analyst estimates. Interest rate-sensitive utilities, housing and commercial real estate stocks also moved to the downside amid the rebound by treasury yields. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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]( --------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Economic Reports CADUSD [CADUSD]( Oil [Oil]( Gold [Gold]( EURUSD [EURUSD]( New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly came in unchanged in the month of December, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. The report said durable goods orders were virtually unchanged in December after surging by an upwardly revised 5.5 percent in November. Economists had expected durable goods orders to jump by 1.1 percent compared to the 5.4 percent spike that had been reported for the previous month. Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders increased by 0.6 percent in December after climbing by 0.5 percent in November. Ex-transportation orders were expected to inch up by 0.2 percent. The Commerce Department also released a report on Thursday showing the U.S. economy grew by much more than expected in the fourth quarter of 2023. The report said gross domestic product shot up by 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter after surging by 4.9 percent in the third quarter. Economists had expected GDP to jump by 2.0 percent. The Commerce Department said the stronger than expected GDP growth reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, state and local government spending, nonresidential fixed investment, federal government spending, private inventory investment, and residential fixed investment A separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded by more than expected in the week ended January 20th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 214,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised level of 189,000. Economists had expected initial jobless claims to rise to 200,000 from the 187,000 originally reported for the previous week. Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 202,250, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 203,750. At 10 am ET, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on new home sales in the month of December. New home sales are expected to climb to an annual rate of 645,000 in December after plunging to a rate of 590,000 in November. The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month?s auction of $41 billion worth of seven-year notes at 1 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.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Europe European stocks are seeing modest weakness after the European Central Bank announced its decision to leave interest rates unchanged for a third consecutive meeting. While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.3 percent. The ECB said the decision to leave rates unchanged came as incoming information has broadly confirmed its previous assessment of the medium-term inflation outlook. ?Aside from an energy-related upward base effect on headline inflation, the declining trend in underlying inflation has continued, and the past interest rate increases keep being transmitted forcefully into financing conditions,? the ECB said. ?Tight financing conditions are dampening demand, and this is helping to push down inflation.? With regard to the outlook for rates, the ECB said future decisions would ensure that rates remain at sufficiently restrictive levels for as long as necessary to ensure that inflation returns to its 2 percent medium-term target. The ECB added that its Governing Council would continue to follow a data-dependent approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction, particularly its assessment of the inflation outlook. --------------------------------------------------------------- [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.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Asia USDCAD [USDCAD]( USDEUR [USDEUR]( USDGBP [USDGBP]( USDJPY [USDJPY]( Equity markets in Asia closed on a positive note amid the euphoria generated by China's surprise announcement of a 50-basis point cut in the reserve requirement for banks. The resultant liquidity infusion into the economy is seen supporting a fragile recovery. China's Shanghai Composite Index surged 3.0 percent to finish trading at 2,906.11. The day's trading ranged between 2,906.79 and 2,821.71. The Shenzhen Component Index also jumped 2 percent to close at 8,856.22. The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 added 10 points or less than a tenth of a percent to end trading at 36,236.47. The day's trading range was between 36,312.36 and 35,912.54. DIC Corp. was the top gainer with a surge of 5.5 percent followed by Nippon Paper Industries that added 4.9 percent. Mitsubishi Materials Corp., Furukawa Electric and Fuji Electric all gained more than 3 percent. Recruit Holdings, Shionogi, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Kikkoman Corp, Suzuki Motor Corp. all slipped more than 2 percent. The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange spiked 312.09 points or 2.0 percent from the previous close to finish trading at 16,211.96. The day's trading range was between a high of 16,254.93 and a low of 15,828.93. The Korean Stock Exchange's Kospi Index edged slightly higher to close trading at 2,470.34. The day's trading range was between 2,452.36 and 2,474.01. Australia's S&P/ASX200 Index closed trading at 7,555.40, gaining 0.5 percent. The day's trading range was between 7,519.20 and 7,558.80. Weebit Nano surged 8.8 percent, followed by Mineral Resources that rallied 7.1 percent. Resmed jumped 6.4 percent. Mining business Incitec Pivot and healthcare equipment business Nanosonics both added more than 4 percent. Domino's Pizza Enterprises tumbled 31 percent after first-half profits missed estimates. Sayona Mining plunged 9.1 percent. Core Lithium and Block both slumped more than 5 percent. Homeco Daily Needs REIT erased 4.8 percent. The NZX 50 Index of the New Zealand Stock Exchange added 0.3 percent to close trading at 11,889.63. The index closed near a 6-month high amidst relief at the annual inflation readings touching a more than two-year low. Trading ranged between 11,788.76 and 11,889.63. Synlait Milk topped gains with a surge of 3.5 percent. NZX, Goodman Property Trust, Precinct Properties NZ all gained more than 2 percent. Summerset Group Holdings also added close to 2 percent. Sky Network Television slid 2.5 percent. Pacific Edge, Fonterra Shareholders Fund, Oceania Healthcare and KMD Brands all declined more than 1 percent. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Commodities Crude oil futures are jumping $0.97 to $76.06 a barrel after climbing $0.72 to $75.09 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after falling $9.80 to $2,016 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $2.60 to $2,018.60 an ounce. On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 147.42 yen versus the 147.51 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0893 compared to yesterday?s $1.0885. --------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this news bulletin or edit your mailing list settings click [here](. 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