Market Update

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 …

US trade deficit in goods hit a fresh record in November due to strong demand and an easing of supply-chain issues.California’s Port of Los Angeles is struggling to keep up with the influx of cargo containers arriving at its terminals, creating one of the biggest obstruction points in the global …

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President and FOMC member Mary Daly said on Thursday that policymakers will need to raise interest rates to keep the economy in balance. “Even if we do a couple of interest rate increases, monetary policy will still be accommodative”, she added. Additional Remarks:“Inflation is …

The WTI crude oil briefly eclipsed the $80 per barrel level for the first time since mid-November as OPEC+ struggles to lift output.Crude oil prices have rallied despite recent downside in global equities after hawkish Fed minutes, and are keeping an eye on Kazakhstan unrest.Front-month WTI futures have surged on …

The Institute of Supply Management’s headline Services PMI index fell to 62.0 in December versus forecasts for a fall to 66.9 from 69.1 in November. Business Activity fell to 67.6 from 74.6. Prices Paid rose to 82.5 from 82.3. New Orders fell to 61.5 from 69.7, the lowest such reading …