Retailers overall have offered mixed signals about how resilient US shoppers can remain. Their spending has been one of the main reasons the US economy has avoided a recession that earlier seemed inevitable because of high interest rates brought by the Federal Reserve to crush inflation. But shoppers are now contending with still-high prices and a slowing job market.
This week’s highlight for Wall Street will be Friday’s jobs report from the US government, which will show how many people employers hired and fired last month. A report on Wednesday morning may have offered a preview of it.
The report from ADP suggested employers in the private sector increased their payrolls by less last month than economists expected. Hiring in manufacturing was the weakest since the spring, according to Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP.
The report helped solidify traders’ expectations that the Fed will cut its main interest rate again when it meets in two weeks.
The Fed began easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high in September, hoping to offer more support for the job market. It had appeared set to continue cutting interest rates into next year, but the election of Donald Trump has scrambled Wall Street’s expectations somewhat.
Trump’s preference for higher tariffs and other policies could lead to higher economic growth and inflation, which could alter the Fed’s plans.
Another report on Wednesday morning said health care, finance and other businesses in the US services sector are continuing to grow, but not by as much as before and not by as much as economists expected.
One respondent from the construction industry told the survey from the Institute for Supply Management that the Fed’s rate cuts have not pulled down mortgage rates as much as hoped yet. Plus “the unknown effect of tariffs clouds the future.”
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.20 per cent from 4.23 per cent late Tuesday.
On Wall Street, Campbell’s fell 5.9 per cent for one of the S&P 500’s sharper losses despite increasing its dividend and reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, and the National Football League’s Washington Commanders hired Campbell’s CEO Mark Clouse as its team president.
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Campbell’s said Mick Beekhuizen, its president of meals and beverages, will become its 15th CEO following Clouse’s departure.
Gains for airline stocks helped offset that drop after JetBlue Airways said it saw stronger bookings for travel in November and December following the presidential election. It said it’s also benefiting from lower fuel prices, as well as lower costs due to improved on-time performance.
JetBlue jumped 8.2 per cent, while Southwest Airlines climbed 1.7 per cent.
In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi sank 1.4 per cent following a night full of drama in Seoul.
President Yoon Suk Yeol was facing possible impeachment after he suddenly declared martial law on Tuesday night, prompting troops to surround the parliament. Yoon accused pro-North Korean forces of plotting to overthrow one of the world’s most vibrant democracies. The martial law declaration was revoked about six hours later.
Samsung Electronics fell 0.9 per cent in Seoul. The country’s financial regulator said it was prepared to deploy 10 trillion won ($1.1 billion) into a stock market stabilisation fund at any time, the Yonhap news agency reported.
In France, political turmoil has also been rising as the government faces a no-confidence vote Wednesday in parliament following a divisive budget debate. The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.7 per cent.
AP
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