Foreign Markets
Global markets fell on concerns that linger about how to fix the banking system. Coupled with poor earnings from the region, the Nikkei stock average fell 240.58 points, or 3 %, to 7,705.36 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 310.91 points, or 2.3 %, to 13,228.30. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.9 %
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 58.82 points, or 1.4 %, to 4,175.44, while Germany’s DAX declined 96.81 points, or 2.1 %, to 4,433.28. The CAC-40 in France was 45.08 points, or 1.5 %, lower at 2,982.64.
U.S. Futures
Here in the U.S, futures lost ground ahead of jobless claims and other indicators listed below. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 57, or 0.72 %, to 7,839. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 7.60, or 0.91 %, to 823.90, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 10.50, or 0.86 %, to 1,214.00.
Currencies and Commodities
The dollar traded at 90.01 yen, down 0.4486% in the currency market. The euro lost 0.5656% to $1.2833. The pound also depreciated against the dollar, a 1.248% move to $1.4216. Gold is flat at $944.10, while silver fell 0.89% to $13.40 as the precious metals advanced nicely yesterday. Crude lost another 0.72% to $35.68 as the economic climate doesn’t give any signs of life. .
Economic News
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Jobless Claims: New unemployment claims for the week of February 7th, to show the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. The fewer people filing for unemployment benefits, the more have jobs, the more income in the consumer’s pocket, as well as a forecast on the acceleration of weakness in the economy. The consensus is for an increase of 610K , up from last week’s reading of 626K.
Retail Sales: measure the total receipts at stores that sell durable and nondurable goods. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of GDP and is therefore a key element in economic growth. The consensus is for a 0.8% decline in the month of January. That figure is however up from the decline of 2.7% in December. The consensus range falls as low as -2.2%.
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Business Inventories: The dollar amount of inventories held by manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. The consensus is for a drop in December of 0.8% as business’ stockpile less to match the weary consumer.
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