(Boursier.com) — Wall Street, which had corrected quite heavily yesterday following good US private employment figures measured by ADP, fueling the thesis of continued monetary tightening by the Fed, is recovering timidly before the stock market this friday. The S&P 500 gained 0.3%, the Dow Jones 0.4% and the Nasdaq 0.2%. Note that Tesla remains under pressure, with concerns related to price drops… The barrel of WTI crude is up 1.4% on the Nymex today at $74.6. An ounce of gold advanced 0.7% to $1,854. The dollar index gained 0.4% against a basket of currencies.
According to the US Department of Labor report on Friday, non-farm job creations for December came in at 223,000, compared to a FactSet consensus of 205,000. The US unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, while the consensus of local economists was 3.7%. Thus, this unemployment rate is back to pre-pandemic levels and the lowest since… 1969!
For the previous month, that of November, job creations were revised down slightly, to 256,000 against 263,000 previously. The unemployment rate for November was revised to 3.6%, against 3.7% previously estimated.
The average hourly wage in December increased by 0.3% compared to the previous month, against +0.4% consensus. It climbed 4.6% over one year against 5% market consensus. Job creations in the private sector in December were 220,000, against 183,000 consensus and 202,000 a month before. The creation of manufacturing jobs was 8,000, against 10,000 expected on average by economists.
Yesterday, the latest private employment figures from ADP had already come out strong, with 235,000 creations according to the report, against a consensus of 145,000 measured by FactSet and a level of 127,000 a month earlier. In fact, however, these figures are driven by small and medium-sized businesses, while large companies with more than 500 employees destroyed 151,000 jobs in December. SMEs with 1 to 19 employees created 65,000 jobs, compared to 130,000 for companies with 20 to 49 employees, 159,000 jobs for companies with 50 to 249 employees and 32,000 jobs for groups of 250 to 499 employees. By industry, construction (41,000 jobs), professional and corporate services (52,000), education and health services (42,000 jobs), and recreation and hospitality (123,000 jobs) generated the essential for December jobs.
According to the latest Challenger, Gray & Christmas study on the subject, layoff announcements by American companies for the month of December 2022 concerned 43,651 people, compared to 76,835 a month earlier. This is therefore an improvement over November, but remember that the total for October was 33,843. It should be noted that the month of November was marked by major layoff announcements from technology firms, and that this month of January is already taking the same path, with plans to Salesforce and D’Amazon.
This Friday on Wall Street, operators will also follow industrial orders for November (4 p.m., consensus FactSet -0.5%), as well as the December services ISM (4 p.m., consensus 55). Finally, Raphael Bostic, Lisa Cook and Thomas Barkin from the Fed will speak during the day…
According to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, the current probability of a 25 basis point rate hike on February 1, after the next monetary meeting, stands at around 68%, compared to a 32% probability of a gesture of 50 basis points. The current range is 4.25 to 4.5%. The same tool shows that the peak in rates could be reached in May between 5 and 5.25%, obviously depending on the famous “future developments” concerning inflation and the economy in general…
Values
You’re here stumbles again before stock market on Wall Street, at the low of two years. The price cuts of Elon Musk’s group are increasingly worrying operators. The Texas electric car giant, which lost two-thirds of its value on Wall Street last year, is reportedly cutting prices for Model 3s and Model Ys in China, according to Reuters. Citing the company’s Chinese website, Reuters reports that Tesla has cut its starting price for the Model 3 to 229,900 yuan (about $33,400) from 265,900 yuan, and lowered it for the Model Y to 259. 900 yuan versus 288,900 yuan. Tesla cut prices for its cars in China for the second time in less than three months, amid darkening demand prospects in the world’s biggest auto market. The latest reduction, along with October price cuts and various incentives of up to 10,000 yuan given to Chinese buyers over the past three months, represents a cumulative reduction of 13% to 24% in Tesla prices since September. according to Reuters.
You’re here would also lower its prices in Japan and South Korea. In Japan, Tesla has reportedly cut Model 3 and Y prices by around 10%, the first drop since 2021. The price of the rear-wheel-drive Model 3 version is now 5.369 million yen (about $40,000), down from yen previously according to Reuters.
Bed Bath & Beyond continues to fall in the stock market. According to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, the retailer is considering filing for bankruptcy, thus opting for Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy law, within weeks. The WSJ report followed the morning’s business update in which BB&B therefore indicated that there was substantial doubt as to its ability to continue operations…
Pfizer, the US pharma giant, is reportedly considering options for its rare disease programs and assets at an early stage, Barron’s says. According to the Barron’s report, the company allegedly told employees it would seek to “outsource” the majority of early-stage rare disease programs in neurology and cardiology, and gene therapy programs that have yet to do so. the subject of clinical trials. The article quotes a company spokesperson as saying that Pfizer is considering many options regarding these assets and programs. However, treatments for rare diseases that are more advanced in terms of development will not be impacted.
CytomX Therapeutics soars more than 70% in pre-session on Wall Street, on the Nasdaq, while Moderna announced a license agreement with the cancer specialist, in the development of messenger RNA-based treatments for a wide range of diseases.
Southwest Airlines, the low-cost US carrier, will launch a thorough review of its operations after thousands of flights were canceled last month. The incident could result in a loss of earnings of up to a billion dollars, according to a union representative quoted by Reuters. Raymond James estimates that this could cut fourth-quarter revenue growth by more than half.