Europe's stock markets have locked on a mixed trend yesterday on the background of a negative opening on Wall Street. In England, the London Stock Exchange locked on a 0.4% decline, in France, the Paris exchange remained without change, while Germany's Frankfurt exchange climbed by 0.6% after the country's factory orders leaped up by a rate five times greater than that predicted in November.
Asia's stock markets have recorded light index rises this morning, with the Tokyo stock exchange climbing 0.1%, the Hong Kong stock exchange climbing 0.1% as well, the Seoul exchange ascending 0.2%, the Shanghai exchange rising by 1.2% and the Taiwan exchange dropping by 1.2%.
In the macroeconomic sphere, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics announced yesterday that the amount of new unemployment claims in the United States grew last week by 18 thousand as compared to the previous week, adding up to 409 thousands, as predicted by analysts. Today the Bureau is expected to publish the employment report for December. It has been predicted that it will show 150 thousand jobs added to the United States labor market, and the rate of unemployment reduced to 9.7%.
The United States dollar is strengthening against most of the world's currencies, trading at a monthly high against the Euro, this due to estimates that the recovery of the United States labor market will boost demand for the currency. The dollar strengthened against the Euro by 1.3% to a level of 1.2956 United States dollars for one Euro. Against the British pound it rose 0.7% to a level of 1.5405 United States dollars for one British pound. The American currency is stable against the Japanese Yen, remaining around the level of 83.40 Japanese Yen for one United States dollar.
