© Reuters
By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com — U.S. releases weekly jobless claims amid tight labor market scare, Costco, Lululemon and Broadcom report results. China’s rally comes to a halt to catch its breath as investors focus on the risk of the spread of the COVID-19 virus and Vladimir Putin begins to shake his nuclear saber again. Here’s what you need to know in financial markets on Thursday, December 8.
1. Unemployment claims shed light on labor market tensions
Normally, when weekly jobless claims are in this slot, it’s a sign of a quiet day ahead. And that’s probably true this time around too, but last week’s labor market report kept labor market tightening high on the agenda.
Indeed, labor market concerns are at the heart of this week’s risky market moves – the US is short of workers and that has driven up labor costs across the board, keeping the upward pressure on inflation. US Inc’s traditional response to this over the past 30 years – to outsource more to China – is no longer an option, of course.
Analysts expect benefits to have risen to 230,000, keeping a slow but still clear upward trend intact. should have remained more or less stable at 1.60 million.
2. One fraud trial ends, another begins
As one high-profile fraud trial ends, another begins.
Wirecard founder and former CEO Markus Braun went on trial along with two other former executives in Munich on Thursday, in Germany’s biggest ever fraud trial.
The trial, which is expected to last an entire year, has already caused upheaval among regulators who oversee Europe’s biggest economy.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, a US judge sentenced Ramesh Balwani, the former chairman of fraudulent blood testing group Theranos, to nearly 13 years in prison. The phrase will serve as an interesting test if any of the numbers behind this year’s collapse of this year’s crypto house of cards ever generate fraud lawsuits in the United States.
3. Stocks Make Modest Pre-Market Gains; Costco and Broadcom results expected later
US stock markets are struggling to cross the gain line again, despite three straight days of losses so far this week.
As of 6:25 a.m. ET, they were flat, while they made a meager gain of 0.2%. The Dow held up on Wednesday, while the S&P and Nasdaq fell 0.2% and 0.5% respectively, suggesting the selloff was losing momentum.
Stocks likely to be targeted later include Alphabet (NASDAQ:), which would merge its Waze and Maps divisions in a bid to cut costs, one of the first signs that pressure from activist investors is starting to yield results in the ‘company. Tesla (NASDAQ:) will also be in the spotlight after Bloomberg reported that banks holding Twitter’s buyout debt are considering swapping it for a new margin loan secured by Elon Musk’s stake in the automaker. automobile.
Costco (NASDAQ:), Lululemon (NASDAQ:) and Broadcom (NASDAQ:) all report earnings after the bell.
4. Chinese rally halts over fears of virus spread
The recovery in Chinese markets stalled as attention shifted from the announced easing of COVID-19 restrictions to concern about how the country would cope if the disease spreads again.
The official number of cases fell sharply last week, but the relaxation of testing requirements means a higher proportion of cases may go unrecorded in the short term. This increases the importance of anecdotal evidence, such as a Financial Times report that the country lacks fever medication.
The FT quoted local health officials as saying pharmacies in the Beijing district where the recent COVID outbreak was concentrated were emptied of basic drugs such as ibuprofen and paracetamol. FT modeling suggests a winter surge of COVID could kill up to 1 million people.
5. Putin starts making sword noises again; oil is rising
Another factor weighing on risk assets in overnight trading was new comments on the risk of nuclear war from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Such risks are increasing, it would be wrong to hide it,” Putin said in his first comments on the subject since the G20 condemned the use of the nuclear threat at its summit last month. However, Putin added that Russia would not use these weapons first.
His comments came two days after Ukrainian forces apparently struck military targets deep within Russia using drones.
Oil prices posted a modest rebound overnight as delays in shipments through the Bosphorus Strait put a floor under the spot market. futures rose 1.7% to $73.22 a barrel, while they rose 1.0% to $77.97 a barrel.
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