Yahoo Finance: Q4 2023 Earnings Preview: Holding onto Hope for a Soft Landing in 2024

Read the full article on Yahoo Finance.

Excerpt:

The New Year got off to a bit of a rocky start as major indices (DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite) ended lower for the first week of the year, marking the first down week after a nine-week winning streak. In the continued 2023 trend of "good news is bad news," it was strong jobs data out on Thursday and Friday that triggered worries that the U.S. Federal Reserve might wait longer to cut interest rates.

As interest rates are one of the biggest drivers of market returns, a hot job market makes it less likely that the Fed will cut rates in the near-term, to the dismay of investors. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Friday that December Nonfarm Payrolls showed the economy added 216,000 jobs; Wall Street economists were expecting a payroll gain of 170,000. In addition to that, wages increased more than expected. Average hourly earnings rose by 0.4% in December, continuing an upward trend from Q4 2023, and bringing the annualized growth rate over that period to 4.3%.[1] While this is great for American workers, it's not great in the eyes of the Fed. Chairman Jerome Powell has indicated in past speeches that wage growth around 3 - 3.5% is consistent with the Fed's 2% inflation target, and we are still running a bit above that.[2]

Contact Us

Request More Info
+1 781.994.3500

Recent Content

See More

Contact Us

+1 781.994.3500

Connect with Us

© 2024 Wall Street Horizon. All Rights Reserved.