US markets see profit booking ahead of jobs report
The US equity markets declined as investors took profits ahead of a key government jobs report on Friday, and as energy shares extended losses after crude oil plunged below USD 100 a barrel.
The US equity markets declined as investors took profits ahead of a key government jobs report on Friday, and as energy shares extended losses after crude oil plunged below USD 100 a barrel.
In the economic front, initial claims for unemployment rose 43,000 to 474,000 from an upwardly revised of 431,000 last week.But the market did not pay too much attention to the higher non-farm productivity in the first quarter. It rose at a 1.6% annual rate, down from a 2.9% pace in the fourth quarter.The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 12,584.17, down 139.41 points or 1.10% and NASDAQ Composite fell 13.51 points or 0.48%, to end at 2,814.72. S&P 500 Index lost 12.22 points or 0.91%, to settle at 1,335.10.In the key data to watch out for - the US govt's non-farm payroll data for April will be released today. Economists expect addition of 186,000 jobs. European markets slipped on account of some weak earnings report from banks. Earlier in the day shares pared losses after ECB president stated that rate hikes is unlikely in the near term. Britain's FTSE 100 Index closed at 5,919.98, down 1.07% and France's CAC 40 Index lost 0.95%, to close at 4,004.87. However, Germany's DAX gained just 3.03 points at 7,376.96.It was carnage across the commodity space, oil collapsed into free-fall diving more than 10% & the Nymex crude prices slipping below the USD 100 a barrel mark. The resurgent dollar, coupled with demand concerns & disappointing economic data weighed on sentiment. Brent prices too dropped to USD 111 a barrel levels. There was a broad based sell off in commodities as the dollar surged on the back of commentary from ECB Head Jean Claude Trichet as well as short covering from its recent sell-off. As a result the CRB commodity index dropped nearly 5%.It was a free fall across precious metals too. Silver prices were shedding another 8% - heading for its biggest weekly loss since 1983, as panic selling accelerated across the commodities sector. The CME raising margins also weighed on sentiment. Gold too fell over 2%, was down over USD 95 from its recent all-time highs.Copper too nosedived more than 3% to its lowest level since December as fears about sputtering global growth and growing inflation risk triggered a vicious cross-commodity crash.Eric Stein, VP, Eaton Vance Management said, "In times like these its better to have a long term perspective. In the short term we think that the margin increases of silver are causing some other clients." Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
