The KUIK Morning Market Report for Thursday, March 2:
Markets are down.
Index
Direction
Change
Units
Time
Dow
Down
(9)
points
21,109
7:05 AM
S&P500
Down
-0.2%
percent
2,391
Nasdaq Composite
Down
-0.2%
percent
5,893
30 Year Treasury
Up
1
Basis Points
3.08
Annual Yield
The Labor Department reports that new applications for unemploymentment benefits last week fell by 19,000 to 223,000, hitting a postrecession low. Economists expected 245,000. New claims have been below 300,000 for 104 straight weeks. Continuing claims rose by 3,000 to 2.07 million the week ended February 18.
As the U.K. prepares to launch brexit talks with the European Union this month, the rest of the bloc is thinking about loosening the ties among the remaining 27 countries. In a report Wednesday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for the first time floated the possibility of the bloc handing back some powers to national governments. These could range from Brussels standing down from policing of government financing of companies, to cutting the EU back to just being a single market. Those were just two of five scenarios how the post-Brexit EU might look in 2025, but disintegration of the EU wasn’t listed. But with many governments reluctant to hand over more power to Brussels, politicians have renewed talk of a “multispeed Europe,” where some countries pursue tighter economic and political integration, and others pick and choose the policy areas in which they want to move closer.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
