A man stands near an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Thursday, May 7, 2020. Asian shares were mixed Thursday after a decline on Wall Street after more depressing data rolled in on the devastation sweeping the global economy. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Stocks climbed in early trading on Wall Street Thursday as reports suggested that even though the economy is still suffering severely, the pace of pain may be decelerating. The S&P 500 rose 1.3%, following similar gains in Europe. The day’s headliner economic report showed another 3.2 million U.S. workers applied for jobless benefits last week, bringing the total over the last seven weeks to 33.5 million. It’s a shocking number, but it’s also the fifth straight week of decline since hitting a peak in late March. Several companies including Lyft and PayPal said they were seeing some encouraging trends in their businesses.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story is below:
Stock markets and the price of oil pushed higher on Thursday ahead of the latest weekly jobless claims figures in the U.S. and after China reported a rise in exports as its pandemic lockdown eased.
As more countries start to remove the draconian limits on business and public life, investors are trying to gauge how quickly the global economy might bounce back.
The labor market in the United States has been a focal point. On Thursday, government data will likely show that about 3.5 million people sought jobless aid last week, bringing the total to nearly 34 million since the shutdowns began seven weeks ago. On Friday, a monthly report is expected to show that the unemployment rate jumped to at least 16% in April — from just 4.4% in March.
Wall Street futures were up ahead of the start to trading, with Dow futures up 1.3% and those for the S&P 500 up 1.4%.
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.8% to 4,470. Germany’s DAX also added 0.8%, to 10,692, while Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.7% to 5,895.
The Chinese trade data showed an encouraging 3.5% rise in exports in April, driven by electronics shipments and textiles, which included a surge in mask exports.
The data show China’s exports to the United States rose 2.2% in April, while imports of American goods fell 11% in a reflection of weak Chinese industrial and consumer demand despite the lifting of most anti-virus controls.
Imports fell 13.7% from a year earlier to $179.6 billion, worse than the first quarter’s 2.9% decline. But total exports rose to $200.3 billion, a turnaround from the 13.3% contraction in the three months ending in March.
Forecasters warned that strength is unlikely to last as the coronavirus pandemic depresses global consumer demand.
Comments by President Donald Trump raising the possibility of further trade friction with Beijing have worried investors hoping for better times as other economies begin to reopen from pandemic shutdowns.
Trump said he would soon assess progress in a preliminary trade agreement with China that took effect in January, extending a truce in a painful tariffs war between the world’s two biggest economies.
The possibility of revived friction over trade at a time when economies have been slammed by the pandemic and resulting travel restrictions has rattled investors in Asia, where China is the main driver for regional growth.
“President Trump’s latest threat to impose additional tariffs on China could also bring some front-loading exports in the near term," Wang said.
Most Asian markets slipped Thursday, but Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225, reopening after Golden Week holidays, gained 0.3% to finish at 19,674.77.
South Korea's Kospi was little changed, inching down less than 0.1% to 1,928.61. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4% to 5,364.20. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.7% to 23,980.63, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 2,871.52.
Benchmark U.S. crude surged $2.51 to $26.50a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 57 cents, or 2.3%, to $23.99 a barrel Wednesday.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, gained $1.98 to $31.70 a barrel.
The dollar inched up to 106.60 Japanese yen from 106.13 yen Wednesday. The euro weakened to $1.0790 from $1.0795.
As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics inches closer, sponsors are facing mounting pressure to pull out of the games with China is under fire for controversies like the alleged human rights abuses against its Muslim minority population and the disappearance of tennis player Peng Shuai. Rick Burton, professor of sport management at Syracuse University, joined Cheddar to discuss what he expects to happen once the games begin. Burton said China is too large of a market for American advertisers to ignore, and he doesn't expect any of them to pull out of the games. "Olympic sponsors right now I think are really just trying to hang on and get through these 17 days, come out the other end," he said.
Google could be gearing up to release its own wearable device as rumors swirl about a potential smartwatch with the Pixel brand. Jon Prosser, the creator of Front Page Tech, who tweeted a possible leak about the product, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to discuss potential the benefits of it entering the same space as the Apple Watch. Prosser said, while he doesn't expect it to launch until at least 2023, the Pixel Watch will be "one of the most vital, most important wearables that we can have on the market," noting that it won't likely challenge Apple for much market share but will set the standard for other Android wearables to come.
The Federal Reserve released its highly-anticipated research weighing the pros and cons of a digital dollar in the U.S. The report comes as economic rivals like china have already piloted their own central bank digital currencies. Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst, The Americas, Oanda, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Tax season is now underway, and it's going to be a bit different than in years past. For starters, the deadline is April 18, instead of the typical April 15th, and many Americans will need to account for advance child tax credit payments, the return of the recovery rebate credit, and a special break for charitable contributions, among other things. Brent Weiss, Co-Founder and certified financial planner at Facet Wealth, tells us what we need to know about filing our taxes this year, and when we can expect to receive our returns.
American semiconductor company, Intel officially announcing plans to build a new $20 billion chip manufacturing complex outside Columbus, Ohio. This comes as the global chip shortage continues to hamper production of everything from smart phones, to cars. Jennifer Smith - Logistics and Supply Chain Reporter, WSJ joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Verizon and AT&T officially launched their 5G wireless services Wednesday across the U.S. Despite pushback from U.S. airlines and the FAA over safety concerns, the telecom giants rolled out the next generation of wireless cellular technology, with speeds up to 20 times faster than 4G LTE. John Biggs, Editor, Tech Crunch joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Earnings season kicks into high gear this week as big players are on tap to report their Q4 numbers, including Microsoft, Apple, and Tesla. Investors will be watching for key indicators on how the companies are dealing with inflation, Omicron and interest rates. Christine Short, VP of Research, Wall Street Horizon joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Stan Farnsworth, chief marketing officer at PulseForge, joined Cheddar to talk about his company's debut at CES 2022 and how it plans to innovate the sustainable tech manufacturing space. PulseForge is bringing a new approach to industrial thermal processing, which contributes to 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Farnsworth. "By using 85 percent less energy in the processing of materials through a variety of manufacturing processes, we can make a direct impact in reducing carbon output and reducing carbon footprint associated with manufacturing," he said.
