Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Wall Street heads for subdued start ahead of jobless claims

Published 12/02/2020, 06:52 PM
Updated 12/03/2020, 08:46 AM
© Reuters. A man wearing a protective face mask walks past a screen displaying the world's markets indices outside a brokerage in Tokyo

© Reuters. A man wearing a protective face mask walks past a screen displaying the world's markets indices outside a brokerage in Tokyo

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - Wall Street was headed for a subdued start on Thursday as investors waited for fresh clues on the economy from jobless claims, hoping the data will help persuade Congress to finally agree on a COVID-19 stimulus package.

E-Mini futures for S&P500 were flat, in line with European markets.

Stocks had risen to global record highs, pushing down the dollar as investor appetite for risk recovered on news that a vaccine for COVID-19 was imminent, starting in Britain next week.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is holding its advisory committee meeting next week, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said the state's first vaccine delivery, enough for 170,000 residents, is expected on Dec. 15.

"Markets have pulled forward and bridged the gap between where we were pre-vaccine and where we are going to be when everyone has got the shot," said Ned Rumpeltin, European head of currency strategy at TD Securities.

"It puts a floor under the long-term risks, but there are plenty of short-term ones in the interim that we need to sort out," Rumpeltin said.

Signs of continued scarring are expected in the latest U.S. weekly initial jobless claims figures due at 1330 GMT, with a Reuters poll expecting 775,000 claims in the week ended Nov. 28, from 778,000.

Surveys on the huge U.S. services sector and car sales are also due later in the morning.

The dollar index slipped 0.2% to a two-and-a-half-year low of 90.774 on Thursday. The MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe hit another record high.

There is still no deal yet in the U.S. Congress on a $908 billion boost to the world's biggest economy.

BREXIT END GAME

Markets were keeping an eye on talks between Britain and the European Union on a trade deal, with less than a month to go before the UK's full departure from the EU.

Sterling clung to $1.34 thanks to dollar weakness and hopes that Britain can strike a Brexit trade deal with the EU before the UK's exit from the single market on Dec. 31.

The STOXX index of European companies was slightly lower, dragged down by a 0.4% drop in Frankfurt and Paris blue chips. The FTSE 100 hit June highs.

COVID's effects were evident in Europe on Thursday. The IHS Markit's composite PMI, considered a guide to economic health, sank to 45.3 in November from October's 50.00, the level separating growth from contraction.

But optimism recovered on hopes raised by a vaccine, the IHS Markit survey showed.

Euro zone government bonds held ground on Thursday with Germany's 10-year bund yield down about 1 basis point to -0.53%.

Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after a choppy day of Wall Street trade, thanks in part to a disappointing U.S. jobs report.

Hopes that the pandemic will finally be brought under control sparked a risk-on rally in currency markets with the Australian and New Zealand dollars advancing.

"Currency investors are taking on more risk following the latest vaccine breakthroughs, options show," Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) said in a note.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei was unchanged while South Korea's KOSPI and Australia's benchmark index were about 0.4% higher each. Chinese shares opened lower, with the blue-chip CSI300 index off 0.2%. New Zealand shares were weaker, too.

Overnight, Wall Street eventually ended higher. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 gained 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was little changed.

In commodities, oil prices slipped on Thursday as producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia locked horns over the need to extend record production cuts set in place in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. [O/R]

Brent crude was down 9 cents at $48.16 a barrel while U.S. light crude eased 14 cents to $45.14.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Times Square is illuminated in blue as part of the

Gold was up at $1,832.6 an ounce.

Latest comments

The people of Georgia are on track to elect two more Democrats to the US Senate, which will even things up 50-50 with VP Harris providing the tie-breaking vote. Should this not happen, it will go down in history as the most corrupt, most rigged election every conducted in the US. And I will have proof to take this all the way to the supreme court with these Trump-quality attorneys: PeeWee Herman, B/o/z/o the C/l/o/w/n, Mo, Larry, Curly, Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Rudy Giuliani.
Georgia will be 2 more seats for Republicans !!hey facebook check that @!!
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.