US Stocks are lower on Thursday, as investors reacted to weak US data releases.
US Retail Sales
US retail sales figures saw their largest single decline for over nine years in December. The 1.2 percent fall came as analysts expected a 0.1 percent increase. The reality was receipts dropping across the board, amid what appears to be a sharp slowdown in economic activity at the end of last year.
Commentators will now be keen to see if the retail sales, a key indicator in the US economy, will continue to slow down in 2019. The US economy, the world’s largest, is nearly 70 percent consumer spending driven, so today’s numbers will raise eyebrows.
The report itself was delayed by the partial shutdown of the US federal government which lasted for 35 days, finally ending on January 25th. Tomorrow (Friday) was the scheduled day for January’s retail sales report release. However, no date has been for its release as of yet.
US Jobless Claims
Keeping the US Dollar lower and pushing US stocks down was also the disappointing news that the number of US citizens filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased last week. The four-week moving average of claims is now at its highest level for more than a year, indicating job growth moderation. Claims soared to 253,000 in the week ended January 26th, a near 1-1/2-year high.
The US Labor Department reported on Thursday that claims for state unemployment benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted figure of 239,000 for the week ended February 9th, an increase of 4000. Data from the week before was revised higher to reflect the 1,000 additional applications received than previously reported.
US Stocks Open Lower
The weak data releases saw US Stocks open to losses. The S&P 500 fell 0.53%, the Dow declined 0.32%, whilst the Nasdaq Composite saw its index fall 0.38% at time of writing.
