Service sector PMIs
Financial Markets Dominated by U.S.-Iran Concerns
January 6, 2020
Commodity price rises were extended Monday. WTI oil climbed 1.1%, while Comex gold is only $25 south of the $1,600 per ounce level. Share prices fell 1.9% in Japan and India, 1.3% in Taiwan, 1.0% in South Korea, and 0.8% in Hong Kong. In European trading, stocks are down 1.4% in Germany, 1.0% in Italy […] More
Concerns Over Trade Lessen
December 4, 2019
Zig-zagging perceptions from day to day about the likelihood of a U.S.-Sino trade deal have been a major source all year of short-term financial market volatility. The shifts often happen inexplicably, like changing weather. Today investors are more hopeful than yesterday that a deal will be reached to culminate phase I of the trade negotiations. […] More
More Evidence of Weakening Growth in Europe and Trepidation Ahead of President Trump’s State of the Union Address Tonight
February 5, 2019
The conclusion of Euroland’s service-sector and composite purchasing manager surveys tells it all: The business environment is at its most challenging since the height of the region’s debt crisis.” The composite Ezone PMI reading of 51.0 was at a 66-month low, and service sector activity (51.2) was near its 4-year low. From a separate report […] More
Several Points of Interest This Friday
January 4, 2019
The U.S. Labor Department’s monthly jobs report was considerably stronger than forecast and counter evidence to the market view that the U.S. economy has slowed abruptly. Non-farm payroll jobs shot up 312K in the final month of 2018. Jobs growth in October-November got revised upward by 58K, bringing the fourth-quarter increase to more than three […] More
Service Sector PMIs Out but Many U.S. Cancellations
December 5, 2018
U.S. Treasury market and stock markets are closed for a federal holiday mourning the death of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush. Fed Chairman Powell’s scheduled testimony before the Joint Economic Committee in Congress was scrapped with no announced make-up date yet set, but the Beige Book analysis of regional conditions will be released at […] More
Two Games of Chicken and an Uncertain U.S. Election Unnerving Investors
November 5, 2018
Chinese President Xi Jinping did not budge from his previous posture on trade, throwing cold water on U.S. President Trump’s pre-weekend comments that much progress had been made to defuse the trade war. In response, equity markets in the Pacific Rim slumped today by 1.8% in Hong Kong and Singapore, 1.6% in Japan, 0.9% in […] More
Tuesday’s Resilience in U.S. Stocks Doesn’t Prevent More Weakness in Asian and European Share Prices Today
September 5, 2018
Global investors are nervous for several reasons: Emerging market economies squeezed by trade tensions and Fed tightening. The possibility of a U.S. government shutdown over Trump’s insistence on funding for a Mexican border wall. A new book depicting the Trump Administration on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Unresolved geopolitical hot spots. Seasonal concerns. In […] More
Service Sector PMI Surveys and U.S. Jobs Data
August 3, 2018
The U.S. Labor Department’s July jobs and wage data will be released shortly. Investors are already digesting PMI data reported overnight. Euroland’s composite purchasing managers survey (comprising both manufacturing and service sector activities) dropped back to a 2-month low of 54.3 in July from a 4-month high in June of 54.9. The services PMI had […] More
Lack of U.S. Leadership on This Independence Day Depresses Market Action
July 4, 2018
The dollar is unchanged against the yen, kiwi and loonie, up 0.2% relative to the euro and 0.1% versus the Swiss franc and Aussie dollar, and down by 0.1% vis-a-vis sterling and the yuan. Stocks in Europe are down 0.4% in Germany and Italy, 0.3% in the U.K., and 0.1% in France. Asia saw some […] More
Non-Manufacturing U.S.-Minus-Euroland PMI Spread
May 5, 2018
The U.S. non-manufacturing purchasing index-minus-euro area services PMI was cut nearly in half to +2.1 in April, a three month low. The U.S. index dropped 2.0 points to 56.8, led by reductions of 1.5 and 3.0 points in sales/business activity and employment. Euroland’s services PMI fell just 0.2 points to 54.7. The Irish and French […] More
