The Bank of Russia unexpectedly maintained its key interest rate at a record-high 21% , defying analysts’ expectations of another significant hike as inflation remains stubbornly elevated. The decision marks a shift toward a more measured approach in balancing economic growth and price stability. Key Details Inflation Concerns: Annual inflation climbed to 8.9% in November, well above the central bank’s 4% target , with inflation expectations reaching 13.9% in December. Policy Rationale: The central bank cited the significant tightening of monetary conditions after October’s 200-basis point hike as sufficient to resume disinflationary processes. Governor Elvira Nabiullina emphasized avoiding both economic overheating and severe slowdowns. Economic Overheating: Elevated government spending on the war in Ukraine and social programs, coupled with labor shortages and rising wages, have fueled strong domestic demand, exacerbating price pressures...
Wall Street might not like 2016. It already seem like it. Another Friday free fall...and there goes the short winning streak in this week.
The market was hit badly with disappointing jobs report. Nasdaq composite fall to its lowest level in more than 15 months.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which had patched together two straight days of gains, was down 211.61 points, or 1.3%, to 16,204.97. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 was down 35.40 points, or 1.9%, to 1880.05.
The real carnage was in the Nasdaq, which tumbled 146.41 points, or 3.3%. to 4363.14 -- its lowest close since Oct. 20, 2014.
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| The downtrend seems like something that continue |
The market was hit badly with disappointing jobs report. Nasdaq composite fall to its lowest level in more than 15 months.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which had patched together two straight days of gains, was down 211.61 points, or 1.3%, to 16,204.97. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 was down 35.40 points, or 1.9%, to 1880.05.
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| Nasdaq tumbled 3.3% |
The real carnage was in the Nasdaq, which tumbled 146.41 points, or 3.3%. to 4363.14 -- its lowest close since Oct. 20, 2014.
And for the week, the Nasdaq posted more than 5% loss. The Dow dropped about 1.6% and S&P 500 tumbled 3.5%.
The release of a weak January jobs report, pointing to a possible downshift in the U.S economy. This adds to the uncertainty to Federal Reserve interest rate policy. The new jobs created last month was reported at 151,000, below the 190,000 that economists forecast.
The unemployment rate ticked lower to an eight-year low of 4.9%, down from 5% in December. The job count in November was revised up 28,000 to 280,000, but the blockbuster December jobs report was downgraded 30,000 to 262,000. Another key data point was the 0.5% rise in average hourly wages.
The jobs report comes amid another tough quarter for U.S. corporate earnings, with fourth-quarter 2015 profits on track to contract more than 4%. A slowdown in overall economic growth is also worrying investors.
Wall Street was also digesting more volatile price swings in the oil patch Friday, with a barrel of U.S.-produced crude trading as high as $32.45 and as low as $30.92 a barrel. At 2 p.m. ET, oil was down nearly 2% to $31.10.
European stocks were lower as the broad Stoxx Europe 600 finished down 0.9%. The German DAX closed 1.1% lower and the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.7%.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 in Japan closed down for a fourth straight session, falling 1.3%. Stocks in Hong Kong rose 0.6% and shares of the Shanghai composite in mainland China dipped 0.7%.
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