On Thursday, on the macro-economic front, the latest United States figures have been mixed, reinforcing investor hopes for new fiscal stimulus initiatives.
Registrations for unemployment declined marginally to 787,000 last week, down 3,000 from the previous week, versus a consensus of 800,000. In addition, a rise in unemployment in December to 77,030 from 64,797 a month earlier was recorded in the new Challenger survey. The complete U.S. jobs figures for December will be released on Friday.
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At 57.2 in December, the ISM services index came out higher than expected, compared with 54.6 in the market consensus and 55.9 in November.
In the tumultuous political climate in Washington, The Fed Minutes, published Wednesday, went almost unnoticed. The minutes of the last meeting of the Fed brought no big surprises. Overall, the participants retained their positions on the composition of the asset acquisitions made by the central bank. In the event of more rapid progress in growth and wages, others have increased the prospect of a further decline in purchases. Participants, though, were careful about economic expansion, which would clearly depend on the evolution of the health crisis.
Finally, in November, the imbalance in the United States’ foreign trade in goods and services stood at $68.1 billion, up from a consensus of $66.8 billion and $63.1 billion in October.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) decreased to $226.9 seeing a decline of -0.31 percent while Tencent Music Entertainment Company (TME) shares dropped by -1.67% to close the Thursday trading at $20.6. A Trump executive order bans Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay, and WPS Workplace transfers from Americans via Chinese applications. In 45 days, the measure takes place. The Trump administration also plans to add Alibaba and Tencent to its blacklist of firms accused of ties to the Chinese army.
