Stock exchanges in the US jittered yesterday after signs of recession threatened to push Wall Street into correction territory.
Earlier, the Asian market floundered as traders reacted to news that the US will impose more tariffs on European products.
The US said it would impose 10% tariffs on Airbus planes. Yet, Airbus stocks rose 3.5% after suffering 2% fall on Wednesday. The turnaround came after the new US product list did not include Airbus parts.
Traders have been on pins and needles after a slew of dismal economic reports. Manufacturing in Europe contracted, while the Chinese economy also started showing signs of weakness.
This week, the Institute for Supply Management showed manufacturing data that spooked investors. It showed that manufacturing also slowed down in the US.
This indicates that even the US economy couldn’t be immune to the disrupted effects of the US-China trade war.
Stock Exchanges and Economic Reports
The stock markets will be seeking ways to paint a clearer picture of the US economy’s status. To that end, investors will be keeping close tabs on the next economic data coming this week.
This Friday, the non-farm payroll report will be available to the market. The data could either confirm or reject the possibility of a recession.
US stock indices have had a rough week so far. The Dow and S&P 500 experienced their biggest one-day percentage loss since August 23.
Afterward, each of the major indices lost more than 1.5%. Another survey that showed a slowdown in private company hiring only further soured sentiment.
For the NFP report, markets are predicting gains of 145,000, higher than the 130,000 in August. Meanwhile, unemployment forecasts expect a steady rate of 3.7%.
Any further weakness in these economic data could fuel fears of a recession in the world’s top economy.
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