A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland. Bets for a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut next week sit unequivocally at the centre of the market's focus right now, as does the murkiness of the economic data Fed officials depend on to make their policy decisions.
* US 10-year Treasury yields at near two-week high. * US unemployment benefit claims drop to over three-year low. * PCE data for September due at 1500 GMT. By Ishaan Arora. Dec 5 - Gold held flat on Friday, as higher U.S. Treasury yields blunted the lift from a weaker dollar, with investors awaiting key inflation data for signals on the Federal Reserve's path ahead of next week's meeting.
The Reserve Bank of Australia will hold its cash rate at 3.60% on Tuesday and keep it there through 2026, according to a Reuters poll, a shift from last month when a majority of economists expected at least one rate cut next year.
* Nikkei falls 1.5%, shares elsewhere subdued. * Japan spending data weak. * BOJ widely expected to hike rates this month. * US PCE data for September due tonight, no payrolls report. By Stella Qiu.
Japan's Nikkei share average lost ground on Friday, pausing after a recent rally, as expectations of rising domestic interest rates weighed on sentiment.
WTI oil prices were poised for a weekly gain on Friday, supported by an expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut, escalating U.S.-Venezuela tensions and stalled peace talks in Moscow, though both oil benchmarks dipped from the previous day. Brent crude fell 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $63.12 per barrel by 0400 GMT.
Gold prices held steady on Friday, as
rising U.S. Treasury yields offset support from a weaker dollar,
while markets awaited U.S. inflation data later in the day for
clues into the Federal ...
Benchmark Japanese government bonds slid further on Friday, pushing yields to an 18-year high, as expectations firmed for rate hikes by the Bank of Japan. The 10-year JGB yield edged up 0.5 basis point to 1.94%, its highest level since July 2007.
The U.S. dollar languished not far from a five-week low against its major peers on Friday as investors braced for a Federal Reserve rate cut next week. Markets widely expect a quarter point reduction when the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets on December 9-10, and a focus will be on any signals about how much additional easing lies ahead.
The U.S. dollar languished not far from a five-week low against its major peers on Friday as investors braced for a Federal Reserve rate cut next week. The dollar index, which measures the currency against six rivals, was flat at 99.065 early in Asia.
Syria's economy is growing much faster than the World Bank's 1% estimate for 2025 as refugees flow back after the end of a 14-year civil war, fueling plans for the relaunch of the country's currency and efforts to build a new Middle East financial hub, central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh said on Thursday.
Wall Street's big three indices were little changed on Thursday, while the dollar and Treasury yields rose, after a surprisingly strong U.S. labor market indicator called into question how much lower the Fed will cut interest rates next year. More on that below. If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today.
Wall Street's big three indices were little changed on Thursday, while the dollar and Treasury yields rose, after a surprisingly strong U.S. labor market indicator called into question how much lower the Fed will cut interest rates next year. More on that below. If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today.
Panelists at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York?sidestepped concerns about an artificial intelligence bubble, focusing instead on the transformative effects of AI and how it may upend work and job growth. Artificial intelligence represents the biggest technological upheaval to the world economy since the rise of the internet a quarter-century ago. The numbers are eye-popping.
* Dollar index higher on day but rate cut bets weigh. * US weekly jobless claims at lowest level in more than three years. * Yen supported by rate hike expectations. * Bitcoin takes breather, slips 2% By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed.
* Fed expected to cut rates amid weak economic data. * US dollar index is set to snap nine-session losing streak. * Japanese stocks lead gains, Nikkei up 2% By Chibuike Oguh and Amanda Cooper. NEW YORK/LONDON, Dec 4 - Global shares and the dollar on Thursday were mostly higher as traders await a Fed interest rate cut, although Wall Street stocks were mostly flat after a batch of economic data.
Brazil's trade surplus fell 13.4% in November from the same month last year, official data showed on Thursday, landing almost in line with economists' estimates. Latin America's largest economy posted a $5.8 billion trade surplus for November, compared to the $5.7 billion expected by economists polled by Reuters.
* Indexes: Dow fell 0.14%, S&P 500 down 0.07%, Nasdaq down 0.01% * Hormel Foods (HRL) rises after annual profit forecast above estimates. * Salesforce climbs as FY26 outlook gets boost. * Investors assess a series of labor market data. By Johann M Cherian and Pranav Kashyap.
* Investors weigh potential for Fed rate cut. * Peace talks on Russia-Ukraine stall. * U.S. crude stocks rise vs expected draw. By Georgina McCartney. Oil prices settled up on Thursday on investors' expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, while stalled Ukraine peace talks tempered expectations of a deal restoring Russian oil flows.
Syria's economy is growing much faster than the World Bank's 1% estimate for 2025 as refugees flow back after the end of a 14-year civil war, fueling plans for the relaunch of its currency and efforts to build a new Middle East financial hub, central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh said on Thursday.
* Fed expected to cut rates amid weak economic data. * U.S. dollar index set for 10th straight session of losses. * Japanese stocks lead gains, Nikkei up 2% By Chibuike Oguh and Amanda Cooper.
* Rate cut bets weigh on dollar. * US weekly jobless claims at lowest level in more than three years. * Yen supported by rate hike expectations. * Bitcoin takes breather, slips 1% By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed.
The U.S. Congress' watchdog said this week it will investigate whether Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte abused his position and government resources to accuse President Donald Trump's perceived enemies of crimes, according to a letter from the agency reviewed by Reuters.
Bank of Montreal (BNKD): * BMO CEO SAYS CANADIAN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS LIKELY TO REMAIN ABOVE 7% THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF 2026, PRESENTING SOME CHALLENGES, PARTICULARLY TO CONSUMER CREDIT - CONF. CALL. * BMO EXEC EXPECTS CORE EXPENSE GROWTH TO BE IN THE MID SINGLE DIGIT RANGE IN 2026. * BMO EXEC SAYS EXPECT TO CONTINUE BUYING BACK SHARES IN 2026.
* Indexes: Dow fell 0.04%, S&P 500 flat, Nasdaq down 0.07% * Hormel Foods (HRL) rises after annual profit forecast above estimates. * Salesforce climbs as FY26 outlook gets boost. * Investors assess a series of labor market data. By Johann M Cherian and Pranav Kashyap.
* US weekly jobless claims drop to over 3-year low. * Gold will not retest the old highs, analyst says. * US private payrolls fell by 32,000, jobs data on Wednesday showed. By Anmol Choubey.
Canadian economic activity contracted in November for the first time in six months as a measure of employment declined, Ivey Purchasing Managers Index data showed on Thursday.
* Weekly jobless claims drop 27,000 to 191,000. * Continuing claims fall 4,000 to 1.939 million. * Planned layoffs decrease 53% in November. By Lucia Mutikani.
Brazil's Finance Ministry said on Thursday it expects the economy to post a positive fourth-quarter growth supported by a slight pickup in services activity, after a weaker-than-expected third quarter. * GDP grew 0.1% in the third quarter from the previous three months, below the 0.2% forecast in a Reuters poll.
Visa plans to launch operations in Syria following an agreement with the war-torn country's central bank on a roadmap to develop a digital payments ecosystem, the bank's governor and the company said on Thursday. "We are glad that we are working with Visa," Syrian central bank governor AbdulKader Husrieh told Reuters NEXT, adding that country officials have further meetings with Visa?on Thursday.
Visa plans to launch operations in Syria following an agreement with the war-torn country's central bank on a roadmap to develop a digital payments ecosystem, the bank's governor and the company said on Thursday. "We are glad that we are working with Visa," Syrian central bank governor AbdulKader Husrieh told Reuters NEXT, adding that country officials have further meetings with Visa on Thursday.
The U.S. Federal Reserve will reduce its key interest rate by a quarter-percentage point at the December 9-10 policy meeting to support a cooling labour market, according to a majority of over 100 economists surveyed by Reuters.
The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell to a more than three-year low last week, allaying fears of a sharp deterioration in labor market conditions after independent surveys showed job losses in November.
The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level in more than three years last week, still showing no signs of a deterioration in labor market conditions.
The U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged around 4.4% in November, the Chicago Federal Reserve estimated on Thursday, while closely watched data from a private provider added to the evidence that the U.S. labor market is slowly weakening.
* Economy grew 0.1% in Q3, below 0.2% forecast. * Interest rates at nearly 20-year high, central bank cautious. * Services sector rose 0.1%, industry 0.8%, agriculture 0.4% By Marcela Ayres. Brazil's economy slowed more than expected in the third quarter as weak services and household spending reinforced signs of cooling under high interest rates, boosting expectations of easing early next year.
Brazil's economy expanded 0.1% in the third quarter from the previous three months, official data showed on Thursday, below the 0.2% growth forecast in a Reuters poll. On an annual basis, gross domestic product grew 1.8%, statistics agency IBGE said, compared with the 1.7% expected in the poll.
* Irish modified domestic demand up 4.1% year-to-date. * Jump in investment by domestic firms drives Q3 growth. * Irish GDP remains elevated at 15.8% for first nine months. By Padraic Halpin.
* Sector is a crucial source of financing for big UK companies. * BoE cannot compel private equity and credit firms to participate in test. * BoE expects to produce final report in early 2027. By David Milliken and Phoebe Seers.
U.S. stocks closed near the unchanged mark on Thursday, as investors weighed a report on the labor market and other economic data, while equities drew support from elevated hopes for a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut next week. A 1.4% drop in Amazon.com shares weighed on the S&P 500, limiting its advance.
* Futures: Dow up 0.13%, S&P 500 up 0.08%, Nasdaq up 0.08% U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Thursday as investors took a pause after expectations of an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut lifted Wall Street's main indexes to new highs in the previous session, while caution prevailed ahead of a fresh batch of economic data.
Brazil's joint budget committee late on Wednesday approved a 2026 primary surplus target of 0.25% of gross domestic product in the budget guidelines bill. * Brazil would aim for a first positive annual balance since President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office in 2023 for his current term.
* Silver hit a record high of $58.98/oz on Wednesday. * US private payrolls fell by 32,000 jobs data on Wednesday showed. * U.S. weekly jobless claims due at 1330 GMT today. By Pablo Sinha.
* Fed expected to cut rates amid weak economic data. * U.S. dollar rebounds from five-week low. * Japanese stocks lead gains, Nikkei up 2% as Fanuc (FANUF) soars. By Gregor Stuart Hunter and Amanda Cooper.
The Bank of England said on Thursday that it was launching a stress test of how the $16 trillion global private equity and private credit industries would deal with a major financial shock.
Greece's jobless rate fell to 8.2% in the third quarter from 8.6% in the second quarter, data by the country's statistics service ELSTAT showed on Thursday. The jobless rate for women was 10.6% versus 6.2% for men in the third quarter. About 59.0% of Greece's 393,162 jobless are long-term unemployed, meaning they have been out of work for at least 12 months, the figures showed.
* Stocks up 0.2%, currencies flat. * Ukraine's dollar bonds steady. * European equities recover. By Niket Nishant. Emerging market stocks rose on Thursday, drawing cautious interest as investors assessed shifting global risk appetite and a flurry of Ukraine-related developments. The MSCI index of emerging market equities was up 0.2% and the corresponding currencies gauge was little changed.
In general the bond market is volatile, and fixed income securities carry interest rate risk. (As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa. This effect is usually more pronounced for longer-term securities.) Fixed income securities also carry inflation risk and credit and default risks for both issuers and counterparties. Unlike individual bonds, most bond funds do not have a maturity date, so avoiding losses caused by price volatility by holding them until maturity is not possible.
Lower-quality debt securities generally offer higher yields, but also involve greater risk of default or price changes due to potential changes in the credit quality of the issuer. Any fixed income security sold or redeemed prior to maturity may be subject to loss.
Before investing, consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully.
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