Market Update

European stocks closed lower on Thursday, amid rising treasury yields and a negative performance by most market sectors. The STOXX Europe 600 index dropped by 0.36% to close at 411.73 points. The chemicals sector led the losses as it fell by 1.8%. The French CAC40 index finished lower by 0.24%, …

Natural gas inventories in the United States declined by 338 billion cubic feet (bcf) last week, data by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Thursday. The decline came a little higher than market expectations. Natural gas stockpiles reached 1.943 trillion cubic feet (tcf), decreasing by 298 bcf compared …

President of the Federal Reserve of Kansas City, Esther George, said on Thursday that the rising treasury yields are a sign of optimism about economic recovery. This could further improve when vaccines are more widely distributed, she indicated. “Much of this increase likely reflects growing optimism in the strength of …

President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Raphael Bostic said on Thursday that economic recovery and job creation will improve as Coronavirus vaccines are more widely distributed, Bloomberg reported. The Atlanta Fed President believes that the path of economic recovery depends on the development of the pandemic situation and …

President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, James Bullard, said on Thursday that the rise in treasury yields is an adequate consequence to the expected economic recovery and rise in inflation, Reuters reported. “With growth prospects improving and inflation expectations rising, the concordant rise in the 10-year Treasury …

Pending home sales in the United States declined in January, due to a shortage of supply, data by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed on Thursday. The NAR Pending Home Sales Index decreased by 2.8% in January to 122.8. The reading came against market expectations with a Reuters poll …

Data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed today, Thursday, that the index of economic confidence in Turkey decreased by 0.5% on a monthly basis in February to 95.8 points, with the repercussions of the epidemic continuing. The index hit a record low last year before recovering as coronavirus measures eased …

The United States’ Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded at an annual rate of 4.1% in Q4, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis’ second estimate showed on Thursday. This reading followed the initial estimate of 4% and came in line with the market expectation.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 730,000 last week, while the previous week’s figure was also revised down by 20,000 to 841,000. Analysts had expected a figure of 838,000 before the release. This reading followed the previous print of 841,000 (revised from 861,000) and came in better than …

Durable Goods Orders in the United States rose by 3.4%, or $8.5 billion, in January to $25.6.6 billion, the data published by the US Census Bureau showed on Thursday. This print followed December’s increase of 1.2% and beat the analysts’ estimate of 1.1% by a wide margin.