Dow dropped 39, advancers slightly ahead of decliners & NAZ gained 70. The MLP index rose 4+ to the 151s along with rising oil prices & the REIT index was fractionally lower to 367. Junk bond funds did little & Treasuries crawled higher. Oil shot up 2+ to the 47s & gold was flattish at 1839.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week amid a surge in COVID-19 nfections & govs ordering stricter measures to help slow the spread of the virus. Figures by the Labor Dept show 853K Americans filed first-time jobless claims last week, more than the 725K that was expected. The number is nearly 4 times the pre-crisis level but is well below the peak of almost 7M that was reached when stay-at-home orders were first issued in Mar. Almost 69M Americans (40% of the labor force) have filed for unemployment benefits during the pandemic. Continuing claims, meanwhile, rose by 230K to 5.8M, larger than the 5.3M that was anticipated. The unexpected increase from the upwardly revised 5.5M claims reported last week marked the first growth in 11 weeks. The jump in filings came as the number of new daily COVID-19 infections last week reached a record of more than 229K. Rising case counts have caused states including California, the world's 6h-largest economy, to impose tighter restrictions.
853,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week
The House passed a one-week gov funding extension yesterday as Congress tries to buy time to strike broad spending & coronavirus relief deals. The measure, which passed in a 343-67 vote, would keep the federal gov running thru Dec 18. Many operations will shut down amid the ragin pandemic if lawmakers fail to approve a funding bill before Sat. The legislation heads to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated he aims to pass it before the deadline. The Senate could try to approve it as soon as Thurs. Congressional leaders hope to reach agreement on an omnibus spending package to fund the gov thru Sep 30. Appropriators have come to terms on an overall $1.4T price tag but have not yet agreed on exactly where the money will go. McConnell & House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have said they want to attach pandemic aid measures to the full-year spending bill.
House votes to fund government for a week amid rush to strike spending, Covid relief deals
The ECB has added another ½T € ($600B) dose of stimulus as a winter wave of rising COVID-19 infections shuts down large swathes of the economy ahead of Christmas, the region's most important holiday. The 25-member governing council decided to increase its ongoing bond purchase stimulus by €500B, to 1.85T from 1.35T ($1.64T) & to extend the support program until at least Mar 2022 instead of the current earliest end date of mid-2021. The purchases, made with newly created money, drive down longer-term borrowing costs & help keep credit affordable & available across the economy, for consumers, businesses & govs. That is critically important to help businesses survive until the pandemic eases & to support govs that are borrowing heavily to pay for aid to businesses & workers. The central bank also expanded its offerings of ultra-cheap, long-term loans to banks. ECB Pres Christine Lagarde had made it clear in Oct that more help was on the way. The central bank is acting as new infections hover around record highs in Germany, the eurozone's biggest economy & as regional govs weigh new restrictions such as shutting schools or shops carrying non-essential goods. In France, bars & restaurants, gyms, theaters, museums & cinemas remain closed. Outdoor Christmas markets have been shut across Europe, reducing foot traffic in usually bustling city centers & many retailers will likely see only a fraction of their holiday business, while restaurant owners faced with forced closures must make do with takeout sales or nothing. German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged citizens to cut down on social & other contacts, saying that "we are in a decisive, perhaps the decisive phase, of fighting the pandemic." The winter resurgence of the virus after an earlier peak in the spring means the eurozone economy will likely shrink in the last 3 months of the year after a strong rebound in Q3, when output jumped by 12.7%.
European Central Bank injects stimulus into economy
Markets are churning while traders assess developments on the stimulus bill in DC. There should be more comments today about rolling out the vaccines.
Dow Jones Industrials
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