Wall Street heads into the final stretch of the year with fresh confidence that the worst of the economic crisis is over, setting up a positive environment for the market heading into next year.
The main US stock indexes notched gains in the week to Friday, buoyed by data showing a sharp turnaround in the job market that offered hopes for a sustained recovery from recession.
The market extended the powerful rally that began in March, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.76 percent for the week to 10,388.90.
The tech-dominant NASDAQ composite jumped 2.61 percent to 2,194.35 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 broad-market climbed 1.33 percent on the week to 1,105.98.
With a rally of more than 60 percent from the lows in March, the Dow has risen 18.37 percent for this year, while the NASDAQ is up 39.14 percent and the S&P 500 index 22.44 percent.
The market was reassured by Friday’s data showing a dramatic turnaround in the US labor market. The data showed job losses narrowed to 11,000 last month from 111,000 in October, and the unemployment rate dipped to 10 percent from 10.2 percent.
The report “is the most important piece of incrementally positive news regarding the economic recovery seen to date,” said Fred Dickson at DA Davidson & Co, adding that it “should lift consumer and investor confidence on Main Street.”
The November employment report “should reduce some of the pervasive fear factor currently held by huge numbers of individual investors,” he said.
“Any way you slice this, it is a good number for the US economy and its growth initiative,” Kevin Giddis at Morgan Keegan said. “Caution is still the better path and we are a long way from standing on our own, but today’s number suggests that the economy is on a trend line to growth.”
Peter Lucas, investment strategist at RBC Wealth Management, said many investors have been underestimating the strength of the recovery in the US and global economies, and some caution has been added to the equation by Dubai’s debt problems.
Bonds took a beating from signs of a stronger economy that may prompt the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates sooner than expected.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond rose sharply to 3.483 percent from 3.211 percent a week earlier and that on the 30-year bond climbed to 4.413 percent from 4.209 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
In the coming week, market-moving news may come from Tuesday’s report on the US balance of trade and, more significantly, Friday’s retail sales data from last month, which will provide clues on consumer spending heading into the holiday season.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS