Market Update

European stocks declined on Friday, closing lower after rising for three consecutive sessions, turning to weekly losses amid a rising number of new Coronavirus cases across the continent. The STOXX Europe 600 index finished lower by about 1%, turning to a weekly decline of 0.8%. In France, the CAC40 ended …

Business inventories in the United States grew during November, data by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed on Friday. After registering an increase of 0.8% in October, business inventories increased by 0.5% in November. On an annual basis, business inventories declined by 3.2% during November 2020. Meanwhile, retail inventories went …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called upon countries to maintain support for economies amid the complications and risks resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic.  “The global economy is at a critical juncture,” said the IMF spokesman Gerry Rice, Reuters reported.“There remains a great deal of uncertainty. The prospect for a …

Industrial production in the United States grew during December for the eighth consecutive months, data showed on Friday. Factory output increased by 0.9% last month compared with a 0.8% rise in November, according to data by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Total industrial production surged by 1.6% in December, recording its …

Retail Sales in the US fell by 0.7% in December to $540.9 billion, the data published by the US Census Bureau showed on Friday. This reading followed November’s decline of 1.4% and came in worse than the market expectation of no-change.

Citigroup’s profits declined 7% in Q4 of 2020, but were much better than Wall Street analysts’ expectations, as the improved economic outlook allowed it to release cash that it had previously allocated for bad loans. The New York-based bank reported net profits of $4.63 billion, or $2.08 per share, down …

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his government will resign over a childcare subsidy scandal that “drove thousands of families to financial ruin,” Reuters reported on Friday, according to local news agency NOS. There hasn’t yet been an official confirmation of this news at the time of press.

The US Energy Department said Thursday it plans to sell up to about 20 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as dictated by two laws passed in 2015 and 2018. Both laws require the ministry to sell a little more than ten million barrels during the …

The National Health Commission of China said today, Friday, that mainland China recorded 144 new cases of the new Coronavirus on January 14, up from 138 cases the day before. The commission said in a statement that 135 of the new cases were local cases, including 90 in Hebei Province, …

JPMorgan announced its quarterly results (Q4 2020), which were better than expectations. Earnings per share: $3.79 per share, versus expectations of $2.62 per share, according to Refinitiv Revenue: $30.16 billion, versus forecast $28.70 billion