Market Update

Japan’s Nikkei stock index recovered most of its morning losses to close almost flat on Friday as investors avoided big bets ahead of a major US jobs report and a three-day holiday in Japan. The Nikkei index ended trading down 0.03 percent to 28,478.56 points. The broader Topix index fell …

Industrial Production in Germany unexpectedly fell in November, the official data showed on Friday, suggesting that the recovery in the manufacturing sector is faltering. Eurozone’s economic powerhouse’s industrial output fell by 0.2% MoM, the federal statistics authority Destatis said in figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, vs. a 1.0% …

The North American trading session closed Thursday with prevalent passive performance, while the US dollar has managed to retain its gains against most of the major currencies since the release of FOMC minutes.Economic DataThe weekly jobless claims reading rose to 207 thousand claims for the week ending 31 December, compared …

Australia’s New South Wales state, where Sydney is located and home of one third of Australia’s 25 million population, will re-impose restrictions including shutting nightclubs and canceling non-urgent surgeries because of record coronavirus contagions according to the Sydney Morning Herald in a report published early Friday.The news adds that the …

US businesses and firms have eventually managed to cope with shortages and Omicron. The ISM services index falls to three-month low of 62% from record 69.1%. Most US companies that service customers are still doing brisk business, but omicron threatens to dampen sales. The ISM figures have revealed that CVS, …

As traders continue to digest Wednesday’s hawkish Fed minutes, which caused US shares to retreat, and discuss its implications of the minutes to Fed’s policy tightening, US equity trading has displayed more passive performance. The S&P 500 Index has been hovering around the 4700 level on Thursday between 4670 lows …

The financial markets’ traditionally favorite US economic statistic has been dethroned, and new classes of data became of higher importance. For the next several quarters, the main role of Nonfarm Payrolls will be to support, reinforce and confirm the Federal Reserve’s new policy which is highly sensitive to inflation. Short …

The Canadian dollar is struggling to navigate the latest omicron wave with mixed performance against the rising commodity prices.Oil Prices have left the pair in the middle of the range over the past six weeks with the bottom at 1.2600 and top at 1.2950. With all the lockdowns in Canada …

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Thursday that the US Fed could raise interest rates as soon as March. The Fed official, known as a hawk and aligned with the market sentiment, explained that the US central bank is now in a “good position” to take even more …

Despite the uncertainty about the new coronavirus variant, the US economy ended 2021 on a high with rising consumer spending and falling unemployment. According to the US Economic scene published by the Conference Board in December, the Omicron variant does not seem to have dampened spirits for the coming year …