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World Shares Mixed, Await US Jobs News 02/11 04:49
World shares were mixed in cautious trading Wednesday ahead of an update on
U.S. employment that is expected to highlight a sluggish jobs market.
BANGKOK (AP) -- World shares were mixed in cautious trading Wednesday ahead
of an update on U.S. employment that is expected to highlight a sluggish jobs
market.
Prices of gold, silver and oil advanced. Bitcoin was lower.
Germany's DAX lost 0.5% to 24,872.61 and the CAC 40 in Paris also shed 0.5%,
to 8,281.72. Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.2% higher.
The future for the S&P 500 was up less than 0.1% while that for the Dow
Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2%.
Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.
Chinese markets crept higher, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong up 0.3% at
27,266.38. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.1% to 4,131.98.
In South Korea, the Kospi extended its gains, rising 1% to 5,354.49.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.7% to 9,014.80, while Taiwan's Taiex
jumped 1.6%.
India's Sensex edged 0.1% lower.
On Tuesday, stocks drifted on Wall Street following a mixed set of profit
reports from big U.S. companies. Hopes rose that the Federal Reserve will cut
interest rates later this year to boost the economy following a discouraging
report on U.S. shoppers' appetite for spending.
"Fresh data points to softening U.S. consumer momentum since last December
as wage growth cools and household credit stress builds," Mizuho Bank said in a
commentary. It noted that demand weakened in eight of 13 categories, including
clothing and furniture.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6,941.81 after briefly rising above its all-time
high set a couple weeks ago. The Dow added 0.1%, to its own record, closing at
50,188.14.
The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6% to 23,102.47.
The report showing that U.S. retailers made less money at the end of last
year than economists expected could signal slowing spending by U.S. households,
the main engine of the economy.
Apart from Wednesday's jobs figures, a report Friday will show how bad
inflation is for U.S. consumers.
Altogether, the data should help the Federal Reserve decide what to do with
interest rates. The Fed has put its cuts to interest rates on hold, and too-hot
inflation could keep it on pause for a long time. But a weakening of the job
market could push it to resume cuts more quickly.
"Expectations are weak. The U.S. economy is expected to have added around
66,000 nonfarm jobs in January, with wage growth slowing to 3.6% year-on-year.
The unemployment rate is seen steady near 4.4%," Ipek Ozkardeskaya of
Swissquote said in a report.
"If we dig deeper, however, unemployment among workers aged 16--24 stood
above 10% in December. The struggle is real," she said.
Coca-Cola fell 1.5% after its revenue for the latest quarter fell short of
analysts' expectations. It also gave a forecast for an important underlying
measure of growth this year that was less than some analysts expected.
S&P Global dropped 9.7% after giving a forecast for profit in the upcoming
year that fell short of analysts' expectations. The company famous for its
stock indexes has been struggling recently with worries that competitors
powered by artificial-intelligence technology may steal customers for its data
services. Its stock came into the day with a loss of 15% for the year so far.
Outside of earnings reports, Warner Bros. Discovery climbed 2.2% after
Paramount said it upped its offer to buy the entertainment company of $30 per
share by 25 cents per share for each quarter that its buyout has not closed
past the end of this year. Paramount also said it would pay $2.8 billion to
help Warner Bros. Discovery get out of its buyout deal with Netflix.
Paramount Skydance's stock added 1.5%, while Netflix rose 0.9%.
In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 87 cents
to $64.83 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 85 cents
at $69.65 per barrel.
The dollar slipped to 153.27 Japanese yen from 154.38 yen, while the euro
rose to $1.1919 from $1.1895.
The price of gold rose 1.2% while that for silver was up 5.1%.
Bitcoin lost 3.3% to just below $67,000.
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