The headline release from the US on Friday was the non-farm payrolls reading, which came in far better than expected. The figure increased by 312,000 in December following an upwardly revised 176,000 increase in November, smashing expectations of 177,000. The news was welcomed by stock markets around the world, especially given recent large sell-offs in household name stocks, including Apple.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also benefited from comments made by Fed Cahri Jerome Powell, who said that the central bank will be patient in hiking interest rates. The US and China are expected to hold negotiations over trade over the next couple of days, so it will be interesting to see if anything can be agreed.
It is a fairly busy start to the week, with factory orders in November set for release this afternoon, as well as the non-manufacturing PMI reading for December. Last time around, the figure was a whopping 60.7 and it is expected to dip slightly. On Wednesday, we will see the meeting minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which should prove to be interesting.
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