FTSE 100 and European stocks mixed and US tepid after jobs and GDP data

Posted by Admin June 27, 2024 Jobs

The Japanese yen sank to a 38-year low against the US dollar. (KAZUHIRO NOGI via Getty Images)

The FTSE 100 fell, European indexes were mixed and the US was relatively unfazed after GDP data showed the US economy growing at a rate of 1.4% year-on-year, as expected. Unemployment data also came in below consensus.

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) tipped into the red by Thursday afternoon, trading 0.4% lower by the close. Over in Europe, the DAX (^GDAXI) rose 0.3% and the CAC (^FCHI) fell 0.8%.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX), meanwhile, was almost flat.
Over in the US, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was little changed, paring earlier still-slight losses after rising Wednesday to close not far short of a new all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was also up about 0.2%.
A reading on initial weekly US jobless claims came in at 233,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week, according to the US Department of Labor data. The print came in below a consensus expectation of 235,000, but recurring jobless claims rose to their highest since late 2021, suggesting it’s taking longer for unemployed people to find a job.
The Japanese yen (JPY=X) sank to a 38-year low against the US dollar. The yen’s weakness is down to the interest rate differential between Japan and the rest of the world — Japan has kept its interest rates near or below zero, while central banks across the world have engaged in a hiking spree to try to contain the economic fallout following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The yen was trading as low as 160.8 to the dollar.
A fresh set of data from China also showed growth in the country’s industrial profits narrowed in May.