Markets edgy as figures for US payrolls loom

The U.S. economy shrank by an annualized rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, its first contraction since the middle of 2009, hurt by big cuts in defense spending, falling exports and sluggish growth in company inventories.

“That does appear to have knocked some of the stuffing out of the recent market rally,” said Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets.

Following a buoyant start to the year, many stock indexes around the world are near multiyear highs and the Dow Jones index is not far off its all-time record. Further advances have proven tougher this week. Fairly disappointing earnings from the likes of Royal Dutch Shell and AstraZeneca did little to prompt much enthusiasm in Europe.

Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.4 percent to 6,299 while Germany's DAX shed 0.3 percent to 7,786. The CAC-40 in France was 0.6 percent lower at 3,742.

Wall Street was poised for a flat opening with both Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures unchanged.

The U.S., as has been the case for much of this year, will likely remain the focus of attention in markets for the rest of the week. Later, weekly jobless claims figures and a manufacturing survey of the Chicago region will be in focus as will the next round of U.S. corporate earnings from the likes of Mastercard and UPS.

A busy week on the data front culminates Friday with the January nonfarm payrolls figures. They often set the market tone for a week or two after their release but may garner more attention this month following Thursday's surprise news of the U.S. economic contraction.

“With payrolls due tomorrow there could well be a temptation for many to sit on the sidelines for a short while,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets.

In a statement released after a two-day policy meeting Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve acknowledged that the economy is still struggling to regain momentum. The central bank said that growth had “paused in recent months,” and while it was taking no new action, it would keep buying US$85 billion of bonds a month.

Asian markets were mixed Thursday, with late buying offsetting earlier falls that had been fueled by losses on Wall Street as U.S. data showed the economy shrank in the final three months of 2012.

The surprise numbers from Washington, the first contraction since mid-2009, saw the dollar weaken further after suffering a sell-off in New York trade.

Tokyo rose 0.22 percent, or 24.71 points, to 11,138.66 and Shanghai added 0.12 percent, or 2.95 points, to 2,385.42. But Seoul slipped 0.13 percent, or 2.49 points, to 1,961.94 and Sydney lost 0.37 percent, or 17.9 points, to 4,878.8.

Hong Kong shed 0.39 percent, or 92.53 points, to 23,729.53.

Most of the region's indexes have enjoyed a strong month as dealers grow more confident about the global outlook, with Sydney enjoying its best January since 1994.

Gold was at US$1,676.68 at 0810 GMT compared with US$1,666.55 late Wednesday.

In other markets:

— Manila closed 0.45 percent lower, shedding 28.49 points to 6,242.74.

— Wellington rose 0.12 percent, or 5.10 points, to 4,252.65.

SHARE CLOSE
Blogger		Google+
Live Journal		Plurk
Stumble Upon

Tweet

	PREVIOUS ARTICLE
	HK, China shares end strong Jan. weakly

NEXT ARTICLE
Judge gives OK for US$4 billion BP oil spill criminal settlement

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email

Submit