News
US jobless data give world markets another boost
By: yahoo.comPosted On: 08/06/2009 1:25 P
European stock markets rose Thursday after another batch of solid corporate earnings while better than expected U.S. jobs data pushed Wall Street futures higher.
Stocks in Europe bounced back after two days of losses, with the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares up 80.60 points, or 1.7 percent, at 4,727.73 and Germany's DAX 59.36 points, or 1.1 percent, higher at 5,412.37. The CAC-40 in France rose 45.27 points, or 1.3 percent, to 3,503.80.
Gains swelled as Wall Street futures headed higher as U.S. unemployment figures stoked hopes that Friday's key payrolls data will be better than expected. Dow futures were up 48 points, or 0.5 percent, at 9,293 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 4.9 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,005.70.
The news that initial claims for jobless benefits in the U.S. dropped to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 for the week ending Aug. 1 from an upwardly revised figure of 588,000 in the previous hope helped fuel the buying after a couple of days when markets have been largely flat.
The hope is that the labor-market improvement will also be evident when the July nonfarm payrolls report is published Friday. The payrolls data often set the tone in the markets for a few weeks.
"With global property markets steadying, any indications of unemployment abating should drive the markets stronger," said Philip Gillet, sales trader at IG Index.
Earlier, there was a muted reaction to the confirmation from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England that they were keeping their benchmark interest rates unchanged at 1 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.
However, the news that the Bank of England decided to expand its asset purchase program by another 50 billion pounds to 175 billion pounds hit the pound hard, as currency traders trimmed back expectations about when the central bank would start to raise rates and withdraw monetary stimulus. The pound fell around a cent to $1.6878 following the news.
The decision to expand the program was somewhat of a surprise
Latest VLogs
iLoveMakonnen "Loudest of the Loud Tour - On the Road Pt. 2"
Life With Ty Dolla $ign (Ep. 7)
