The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the United States at the beginning of last week climbed to a new high since December last year, revealing signs of loosening the tightness in the labor market and easing market sentiment. The main U.S. stock indexes opened higher on Thursday (9th). 10-Year Treasury Bond YieldFalling back from the 4% checkpoint,dollar indexAlso lower.
before the deadline,Dow Jones Industrial AverageUp more than 150 points or nearly 0.44%,Nasdaq Composite Indexup more than 30 points or 0.3%,S&P 500 Indexup nearly 0.3%,Philadelphia SemiconductorThe index rose nearly 0.2 percent.
After the release of U.S. jobless claims data last week,S&P 500 IndexandNasdaq 100 futures were higher, erasing earlier losses of as much as 0.5%. The dollar retreated from a two-month high once morest a basket of currencies, while U.S. Treasury yields slipped.
The U.S. Department of Labor released the latest unemployment benefits data on Thursday. The adjusted number of initial jobless claims reported last week was 211,000, higher than market expectations of 195,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous value of 190,000, the highest in December last year. All-time high. Meanwhile, the number of people continuing to claim unemployment benefits also climbed last week, with data pointing to some easing in a tight labor market.
A few days ago, the US January Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed that the number of job vacancies fell to 10.824 million from a revised 11.234 million in December last year, a decrease of regarding 410,000 job vacancies, but still higher than market expectations of 10.5 million. Even just a slight move higher than expected might solidify investor bets that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates more aggressively at its March 21-22 meeting.
Currently, the market estimates that the number of non-agricultural employment in the United States in February, which will be released tomorrow, will increase by 205,000, compared with the previous value of 517,000. Data in this range will confirm that the US economy continues to increase employment at a strong pace. However, if the result is worse than expected, it may soften the market’s bet on a two-yard (50 basis point) rate hike in March and tilt towards a one-yard (25 basis point) rate hike.
Investors are still digesting the signal sent by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in the past two days that the Fed is still likely to accelerate monetary policy tightening, and if economic data allows, interest rates may be higher than expected. But he said the Fed has yet to make a decision on its next steps.
In addition, another report released by the United States on the same day showed that the number of layoffs in American companies in January and February hit the highest level since 2009, and the technology industry accounted for more than one-third of the total number of layoffs of more than 180,000.
According to a report by employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc, in February alone, the number of layoffs in the United States reached 77,770, more than five times higher than the 15,245 announced a year ago.
As of 22:00 on Thursday (9th) Taipei time:
Focus stocks:
apple (AAPL-US) rose 0.38 percent to $153.45 a share in early trade
According to foreign media “9to5mac” report, Apple smart watch Apple Watch users can also start using OpenAI’s recently popular chat robot ChatGPT, just download a third-party application (app). This new app on the Apple App Store is called “watchGPT”, which allows users to interact directly with ChatGPT on the Apple Watch. Other features include: getting answers quickly or generating longer messages without typing text.
Asmol (ASML-US) fell 0.17 percent to $618.35 a share in early trade
The Dutch government said a few days ago that it plans to implement new regulations on the export of chip manufacturing equipment to protect national security. The content will be announced before the summer. Ultraviolet (DUV) exposure lithography systems are expected to be affected.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK-US) rose 0.57 percent to $33.78 a share in early trade
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) expects to launch its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine in the US this year with no worries of supply and sees China as a key market going forward. “We are ready to launch the vaccine into the current market without capacity or supply constraints,” said Phil Dormitzer, head of vaccine development at GlaxoSmithKline. Most of the vaccine ingredients needed to launch the vaccine come from its plant in Wavre, Billy.
Today’s key economic data:
- U.S. challenger companies laid off 77,800 jobs in February, up from 102,900 previously
- The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the United States reported 211,000 last week, compared with 195,000 expected and 190,000 previously
- The number of Americans continuing to receive unemployment benefits last week was reported at 1.718 million, expected to be 1.659 million, and the previous value was revised to 1.649 million
Wall Street Analysis:
JPMorgan says hawkish comments from Fed Chair Powell on Tuesday will forceS&P 500 IndexApproaching down towards 3,900, technical factors also suggest thatS&P 500 IndexThis critical level may be challenged.
In a note to clients, JPMorgan said: “In our view,S&P 500 IndexA break below the 3,900 level might lead to heightened selling pressure, as the area has been a watershed for the index since May 2022.We believe that ifS&P 500 IndexBelow 3,900 points, it may fall further to 3,760-3,764 points area. “
