Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index declined by 3.1 points in December to 54.1. A score above 50 means that activity remains in expansionary territory.
Shares climbed in Hong Kong and South Korea but slipped in Japan. S&P 500 futures saw modest gains. The U.S. benchmark closed little changed after a drop of almost 2% Wednesday that was sparked by Federal Reserve meeting minutes that suggested the central bank is ready to raise rates sooner and higher than previously expected. Ten-year Treasury yields were steady around 1.72%, set for their biggest weekly jump since 2020.
“The good news is that today things seem to be stabilizing a little bit after yesterday’s knee-jerk reaction.”Comments by regional Fed presidents provided some additional insight Thursday as traders attempted to predict a possible schedule for tightening. “Markets are concerned that we’ve never seen the Federal Reserve both lift interest rates off zero and reduce the size of its balance sheet at the same time,” he wrote.Investors are also looking for signs that more Americans are returning to the labor force and helping employers to fill a near-record number of open positions. Friday’s monthly nonfarm payrolls report is forecast to show a gain of 447,000 jobs in December.
Minutes from the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting showed that officials were confident the world's top economy was in good shape and able to absorb high borrowing costs, despite concerns over the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq plunged more than three percent Wednesday, and the Dow and S&P 500 lost more than one percent after starting the week with records peaks.The FTSE/JSE All-Share Total Return Index rose by 29.2% for calendar 2021 .
Declines may not be over yet: Nasdaq 100 futures point to a further 0.3% drop on Thursday after the worst two-day rout since March. US 10-year Treasury yields were hovering near to 1.75%, the highest in about 10 months. Volumes on the main indexes remained thin and well below levels of mid-December when the Federal Reserve’s hawkish tilt turned markets volatile.
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