EURO SINKS, STOCKS GO NOWHERE: Here's what you need to know
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Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach
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First, the scoreboard:
- Dow: 16,393.22, +41.84, (0.26%)
- S&P 500: 1,954.35, +5.49, (0.28%)
- Nasdaq: 4,748.71, -1.27, (-0.03%)
And now, the top stories on Thursday:
- The euro fell to a two-week low against the dollar. As expected, the European Central Bank kept the key refinancing rate unchanged at 0.05%. The move lower for the euro came during ECB president Mario Draghi's press conference. He cut Gross Domestic Product forecasts for Europe, and said deflation could return. He also emphasized that the 60 billion euro-a-month asset buying program could continue beyond 2016. The euro fell nearly 1% to as low as 1.1087.
- We may not have seen the end of the massive energy-related layoffs, according to John Challenger, CEO of staffing firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Energy companies have announced the most plans among sectors to lay off workers this year. Challenger's latest monthly report on job cuts showed that the retail sector led the pack in August, as supermarket chain A&P shuts 100 stores. Overall, job cuts fell 60% from July, when massive layoffs by the US Army contributed to a spike.
- Initial jobless claims rose more than expected last week. Claims for unemployment insurance totaled 282,000 (275,000 expected). We've now had about six straight months of claims tallies below 300,000.
- The trade deficit fell $3.3 billion to $41.86 billion in July. Imports of consumer goods fell $2.6 billion and imports of services increased $0.2 billion."You could say initial jobless claims and the U.S. trade deficit data are consistent with the "some further improvement" the Fed told us in July they were waiting for to hike rates," Chris Rupkey at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi wrote in a note to clients.
- The services sector is still doing just fine. Markit Economics' services Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) came in at 56.1 (55 estimated), while ISM's non-manufacturing index came in at 59 (58.2 forecast). In Markit's release, chief economist Chris Williamson wrote: "Although the manufacturing sector has been struggling in the face of weak overseas demand and the stronger dollar, the more domestically-focused service sector clearly continues to fare well amid these headwinds and, due its size, is keeping the economy ticking along at a reasonable, albeit unspectacular, rate."
- Twitter shares popped higher as the company's board reportedly met to discuss its future CEO. The stock climbed 3.5% to around $28.80 per share, the highest level in two weeks. On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that the company's board is meeting today to discuss the successor to Dick Costolo, who stepped down in July.
DON'T MISS: THIS IS IT: We're hours away from the jobs report that could change the game for the Fed »
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