By James Langton
(September 23 – 09:00 EST) – Markets should rebound again today. Some optimism in the European blue chips and tech stocks has the S&P futures market looking up.
In the U.S. there is another sign of tighter labour markets. Last week’s jobless claims came in at 17,000, pushing the total to 272,000.
The European Central Bank is helping markets across the pond. This morning it decided to hold the line on interest rates. This is giving bullish traders a boost, and putting some strength into the economy overall.
The German Producer Price Index also came in far lower than expected, 0.1%, although economists were expecting a 0.3% increase. Optimism about European inflation and interest rates is having positive impact in its interest-sensitive stocks, and is also supporting yesterday’s tech stock buying.
The FTSE 100 is up more than 1.5% this morning, so far it has added 97 points. Similar gains are taking hold on the continent too. The German DAX is up 87 points, while Paris has been more subdued adding 35 points so far.
With Japanese traders on vacation Hong Kong had a directionless trading day. Stocks bounced around a bit, before ultimately closing to up 26.8 points.
Statistics Canada is reporting international securities transactions for July. In the month foreign investors boosted their holdings of Canadian securities, buying both stocks and bonds worth $2.3 billion in the month. Canadian investors on the other hand bought an impressive $5.1 billion in foreign stocks.
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool is reporting its results for the year ended July 31. The firm had a 34¢ per share loss in the year, down from a 51¢ per share profit last year.