Attempt to react to the Wall with macros in focus

LAST UPDATE: 20:52

Wall Street indexes are moving with mixed signs and away from the lows of the day on Wednesday, with investors trying to assimilate the barrage of financial data announced earlier, while the market is heading to tomorrow’s Thanksgiving holiday.

Today’s session started with the indicators recording significant losses, amid inflation concerns, rising bond yields, but also the concerns caused by the new outbreak of coronavirus cases and the imposition of new restrictions in various countries.

But buyers were quick to react to the sellers’ attack, drawing on the positive data announced for the US economy but the “breath” offered by the slight de-escalation of US government bond yields, which allowed interest rate sensitive stock changes, such as those in the technology industry, to recover.

It is noted that the yield of the US 10-year has fallen slightly to 1.646%, having climbed earlier to 1.697%.

The positive elements for US growth, the labor market and the housing market helped change the investment psychology.

In particular, the data showed that the US labor market continued to recover strongly, with new US unemployment benefit applications last week at the lowest level since 1969.

More specifically, the initial applications for unemployment benefits in the regular programs of the states fell by 71,000 to the seasonally adjusted size of 199,000 for the week ended November 20, as announced by the US Department of Labor, lower than the analysts’ estimates.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Commerce made a small upward revision of the data on the economic growth in the country, a move that reflects the strongest consumer spending. US GDP on an adjusted basis for inflation grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in the third quarter compared to the initial announcement of 2%, according to the Commerce Department.

New home sales in the United States rose 0.4 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted 745,000, according to data released Wednesday by the Commerce Department. New home sales in September stood at 742,000, according to final figures, up from the original estimate of 800,000, but higher than the 742,000 in September.

Meanwhile, although they initially struggled with data on commodity orders, which fell 0.5% in the US in October, refuting analysts’ estimates in a Wall Street Journal poll for a 0.3% increase, a closer look The data “relieved” economists, as it showed that the decline was due almost exclusively to fewer orders for aircraft, a category that shows large fluctuations and often distorts the level of aggregate demand in the wider economy.

Orders for non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft, rose 0.6% last month, according to the Commerce Department.

However, investors are still worried about the price rally in the US, which continued in October, with inflation showing the largest annual increase in the last 31 years, as shown by government data that came to light today.

In particular, the cost of goods and services increased by 0.6% in October based on the index for personal consumption expenditures, according to data from the US Department of Commerce. Analysts in a Wall Street Journal poll expected the index to rise 0.4%. The latest rise has pushed the inflation rally over the past year to 5% from 4.4% in September. This is the highest level since December 1990.

The Federal Reserve considers the Consumer Price Index to be a more reliable measure of US inflation than the most well-known consumer price index. The latest measurement of the consumer price index showed that the cost of living increased to 6.2% which is also a high of 31 years.

A development that raises the expectations for accelerating the tightening of the monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, which, however, seems to have already been largely discounted by the market.

Finally, investors continue to keep a close eye on developments on the pandemic front, as rising coronavirus cases have rekindled fears of restrictive measures, memories that awoke earlier in the week with Austria’s national lockdown and restrictions. taken in various other countries.

Indicators – statistics

In the midst of this climate and the “tsunami” of macroeconomic data, the indices have significantly reduced their initially higher losses, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq even trying for the positive sign.

In particular, the Dow Jones industrial average has reduced its fall to 41.58 points or 0.12% and is moving to 35,772.22 points, the broader S&P 500 is trying to secure the positive sign by adding only 0.07% to 4,694, 15 points, while the technological Nasdaq is up 0.17% lower at 15,801.30 points.

On the chart, Gap shares plunged more than 20% after the clothing and accessories company announced quarterly results below expectations and revised down its year-on-year estimates citing supply chain problems.

A significant drop of 29% is recorded in the title of Nordstrom, which also announced third-quarter results that disappointed analysts.