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Market Wrap: Stocks, Bonds, Commodities
On Thursday, U.S. stocks closed sharply lower as lower-than-expected sales data stirred recession fears among investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 764 points (-2.25%) to 33,202, the S&P 500 declined 99 points (-2.49%) to 3,895, and the Nasdaq 100 slid 395 points (-3.37%) to 11,345.
U.S. data showed that retail sales declined 0.6% on month in November (vs +0.2% expected). The latest number of initial jobless claims posted at 211,000 (vs 235,000 expected).
Also, the New York State manufacturing index sank to -11.2 in December (vs +1.0 expected, +4.5 in November), while the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index improved to -13.8 in December (vs -7.0 expected, -19.4 in November).
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield eased a further 2.9 basis points to 3.448%.
Technology hardware & equipment (-4.43%), media (-4.39%), and semiconductors (-3.95%) sectors led the market lower.
NetFlix (NFLX) slumped 8.63%, as a media report said the video streaming firm is refunding advertisers after missing views targets.
Nvidia (NVDA) declined 4.09% after the semiconductor stock was rated "reduce" at HSBC.
AT&T (T) slid 2.28% after the telecom stock was downgraded to "equal-weight" at Morgan Stanley.
Novavax (NVAX) plunged 34.3% after the biotech firm announced a capital hike.
On the other hand, Tesla (TSLA) edged up 0.55%. Regulatory documents showed that CEO Elon Musk sold 22 million shares in the electric-vehicle maker worth $3.58 billion.
Lennar (LEN) rose 3.82% as the largest U.S. homebuilder reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings.
European stocks were also heavy. The DAX 40 fell 3.28%, the CAC 40 declined 3.09%, and the FTSE 100 was down 0.93%.
U.S. WTI crude futures declined $1.00 to $76.26 a barrel.
Gold price lost $30 to $1,776 an ounce.
Market Wrap: Forex
The U.S. dollar rebounded against other major currencies. The dollar index advanced to 104.64.
EUR/USD fell 58 pips to 1.0624. As expected, the European Central Bank raise its key interest rates by 50 basis points to 2.0-2.5%. However, the central bank said it would raise interest rates "significantly" further to tame inflation.
GBP/USD dropped 250 pips (-2.01%) to 1.2176. As expected, the Bank of England raised its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 3.50%. The central bank stated that it would "respond forcefully" in case of persistent inflationary pressures.
USD/JPY jumped 232 pips (+1.71%) to 137.80.
AUD/USD declined 165 pips (-2.40%)to 0.6699.
USD/CHF gained 40 pips to 0.9285, and USD/CAD climbed 123 pips to 1.3671.
Bitcoin traded lower to $17,400.
Morning Trading
In Asian trading hours, the U.S. dollar softened slightly against other major currencies.
USD/JPY declined to 137.31. The Jibun Bank manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 48.8 in December (vs 49.6 expected).
AUD/USD rebounded to 0.6717.
EUR/USD traded higher to 1.0645, and GBP/USD climbed back to 1.2204.
Gold price was up to $1,780 an ounce.
Bitcoin held up well at $17,400.
Expected Today
In the U.K., the GfK consumer confidence index posted at -42 in December (vs -43 expected).
Also, U.K. retails sales are expected to edge up 0.3% on month in November.
December S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers index will be posted for the Eurozone (46.6 expected), Germany (45.9 expected), France (48.6 expected), the U.K. (46.3 expected) and the U.S. (48.2 expected). | | |
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