Stock prices in the US and Europe were mostly down on Thursday as US jobs data stoked fears that the US Federal Reserve (FRS) will continue to hike interest rates to combat the high inflation.
Wall Street indices fell more than 1% after the release of unexpectedly positive US jobs data. The US dollar soared to a four-week high against the euro.
In December, 235,000 new jobs were created in the US private sector, thus registering a faster-than-expected increase, according to information gathered by the company ADP. Analysts had forecast that the US private sector would add about 150,000 jobs in December.
The minutes of the December FRS meeting were released shortly beforehand, suggesting that the FRS intended to continue raising interest rates until prices were brought under control. Market participants fear that such actions by the central bank will drive the US economy into a recession.
The stock indices of Frankfurt and Paris fell. The London stock index rose, however, boosted by positive news in the retail and banking sectors, as well as a weaker British pound, which is helping exporters.
Shares of Amazon fell more than 2% after announcing plans to cut 18,000 jobs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.0% to 32,930.08 on Thursday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was down 1.2% to 3,808.10 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.5% to 10,305 .24 points.
London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.6% to 7,633.45 on Thursday, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was down 0.4% to 14,436.31, and Paris’ CAC 40 was down 0.2% to 6,761. 50 points.
WTI crude oil rose 1.1% to $73.67 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. The price of “Brent” crude on the London Stock Exchange rose by 1.1% to 78.69 dollars a barrel.
The euro fell $1.0604 to $1.0524 per euro on Thursday, the British pound fell $1.2055 to $1.1909 per pound on Thursday and the dollar was up against the Japanese yen by 132.63 at 133.42 yen to the dollar. The euro rose against the British pound from 87.96 to 88.34 pence to the euro.
