Written by Gary
Jobless claims soar to a more than 2-year high of 252K (SPY -0.1%). Food price inflation (Rural and urban) climbed 10.01% in November.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are mixed. The FTSE 100 is higher by 0.38%, while the CAC 40 is leading the DAX lower. They are down 0.09% and 0.08% respectively. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Factbox: Nestle CEO Mark Schneider’s top deals over the past three yearsMark Schneider, Nestle’s first outside chief executive officer in almost a century, has made big strides in positioning the world’s largest food company for the future with aggressive deal making since taking over in January 2017. |
| Nokia, Daimler, others agreed to mediation to resolve licensing disputeNokia, German carmaker Daimler and several car parts suppliers have agreed to independent mediation to resolve their technology licensing dispute, the Finnish telecoms equipment maker said on Thursday. |
| Oil market to remain oversupplied despite deepening OPEC+ cuts: IEAGlobal oil inventories could rise sharply despite OPEC and its allies deepening their output cuts and slowing U.S. production growth, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday. |
| Saudi Aramco hits Crown Prince’s $2 trillion goal despite valuation doubtsSaudi Aramco hit the $2 trillion target sought by de-facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday as its shares racked up a second day of gains, despite some scepticism about the state-owned oil firm’s value. |
| Ferrari CEO does not expect fully-electric model until after 2025Ferrari won’t have its first fully electric model ready until after 2025 as the battery technology requires more development, Chief Executive Louis Camilleri said, pushing back expectations. |
| Samsung to invest an extra $8 billion in China chip plant: mediaSamsung Electronics will increase investment at its chip factory in China by $8 billion to boost production of NAND flash memory chips, Chinese media reported on Tuesday. |
| Oil prices rise on OPEC deficit forecastOil prices rose on Thursday, recouping some of the previous session’s losses after OPEC forecast a supply deficit next year and the U.S. Federal Reserve said the economic outlook was favorable. |
| Global stocks test record highs, pound braces for election all-nighterWorld shares took a fresh run at record highs on Thursday, as all the right messages from the U.S. Federal Reserve set traders up nicely for a packed day of milestone central bank meetings and a Brexit-defining election in Britain. |
| Southwest reaches partial compensation agreement with Boeing for MAX damagesSouthwest Airlines Co said on Thursday it had reached a confidential compensation agreement with Boeing Co for a portion of the projected financial damages related to its 737 MAX aircraft grounding. |
| Watch Live: Christine Lagarde’s First Press Conference As ECB PresidentWatch Live: Christine Lagarde’s First Press Conference As ECB President Having got through the ECB statement release unscathed with no changes or surprises, all eyes are now on Christina Lagarde’s first press conference appearance as ECB president. |
| Apple Shares Slide After Credit Suisse Reports Plunge In China iPhone ShipmentsApple Shares Slide After Credit Suisse Reports Plunge In China iPhone Shipments Apple share were already sliding in the pre-market session as tariff fears re-emerged but a report from Credit Suisse that iPhone shipments fell meaningfully in November sparked considerably more selling pressure. In fact, CS says iPhone shipments in China dropped a shocking 35.4% YoY in November (following a 10.3% YoY drop in October). This compares to a 0.2% increase in the broader regional smart phone market. Additionally, CS reports that total shipments in China are now down 7.4% since the launch of the iPhone 11 line. Luckily, Apple stopped reporting iPhone unit sales so this will soon be forgotten (or not). |
| No Changes Or Surprises From ECB In Lagarde’s First MeetingNo Changes Or Surprises From ECB In Lagarde’s First Meeting In her first policy meeting as head of the ECB, Christine Lagarde left the uber-dovish momentum put in place by her predecessor, Mario Draghi, untouched, and moments ago the ECB kept all its three rates unchanged as expected, noting that rates would remain “at their present or lower levels” until the ECB nears its inflation goal, i.e. never, and that the ECB will continue buying ‚¬20BN in bonds until “shortly before it starts raising the key ECB interest rates” (or until it runs out of German bonds to buy, whichever comes first). In short no surprises, and the market reacted accordingly, with the EURUSD and bunds not even pretending to move. Full statement below: At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.50% respectively. The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels until it has seen the inflation outlook robustly converge to a level sufficiently close to, but below, 2% within its projection horizon, and such convergence has been consistently reflected in underlying inflation dynamics. On 1 November net purchases were restarted under the Governing Council’s asset purchase programme (APP) at a monthly pace of ‚¬20 billion. The Governing Council expects them to run for as long as necessary to reinforce the accommodative impact of its policy rates, and to end shortly before it starts raising the key ECB interest rates. The Go … |
| China Warns It Will Retaliate After Reuters Reports Trump Will Proceed With Dec 15 TariffsChina Warns It Will Retaliate After Reuters Reports Trump Will Proceed With Dec 15 Tariffs A report claiming that President Trump would be meeting with senior aides on Thursday to discuss whether the US should move ahead with its next round of tariffs has apparently rankled the higher-ups in Beijing. Because Global Times editor Hu Xijin, a popular mouthpiece for the Communist Party, tweeted a rebuttal Thursday morning, warning that “China will surely retaliate” If Washington moves ahead with the Dec. 15 tariffs. |
| Infosys faces class action lawsuit in US for rigging its booksInfosys faces class action lawsuit in US for rigging its booksAccording to the complaint, Infosys made false and misleading statements to the market. |
| Nov retail inflation rises to 3-yr high of 5.54%Nov retail inflation rises to 3-yr high of 5.54%Higher food prices contributed to the spike. Food price inflation (Rural and urban) climbed 10.01% in November. |
| Privatisation of railways gathers speedPrivatisation of railways gathers speedGoyal has asked officials to prepare a plan for introducing 150 new routes, bidding for which will begin next month. |
| Rail Week Ending 07 December 2019 – Intuitive Sectors WorsenWritten by Steven Hansen Week 49 of 2019 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) contracted according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. The intuitive sectors did marginally worsen.
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| Economic Report: Jobless claims soar to a more than 2-year high of 252,000 in wake of ThanksgivingThe number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in early December soared to highest level in more than two years, but the spike was likely tied to a later than usual Thanksgiving holiday instead of rising layoffs. Initial jobless claims jumped 49,000 to a seasonally adjusted 252,000. |
| The Ratings Game: Home Depot’s investment plan weighs on fiscal 2020 outlookHome Depot disappointed with its fiscal 2020 guidance, which analysts say is impacted by its own investments and outside factors. |
| Amazon Prime members can place orders on Dec. 24 and get items by Christmas DayAmazon Prime members still have nearly two weeks to have purchases delivered while non-Prime shoppers only have a few more days for free delivery. |
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