Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expect to hear that just 71,000 jobs were created last month, by far the worst figure since the labor market recovery began in May.
What happens: The United States experiences another explosion in cases of coronavirus. In less than two weeks, the country has recorded its five deadliest days since the pandemic began, with more than 4,000 virus-related deaths reported on Thursday. It weighs job creation as business constraints increase and more people choose to stay at home.
“Increasing cases, hospitalizations and deaths in COVID-19 mean that our health and economic problems are far from over,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank. “President, Elected President Biden, inherits an extremely troubled economy with millions of families just trying to stay afloat.”
However, Wall Street looks beyond the misery of winter and bets that vaccination programs from spring could boost growth and corporate profits. Stocks peaked on Thursday, despite violence the previous day at the Capitol and a raging pandemic.
This is in part because of the high expectations for Democrats. Now that the party has taken control of the Senate – as well as the House of Representatives and the White House – after winning both seats in Georgia, investors are betting that another stimulus package could be implemented quickly.
Deutsche Bank predicts that Congress will soon approve a $ 900 billion stimulus package “built on further stimulus controls, funds for state and local governments and improving unemployment benefits”, which he says will boost economic growth in the U.S. economy by 2021 to 6, 3% rise, about two percentage points. higher than the bank’s previous forecast.
Keep an eye on this space: there is a good chance that the job report could be even worse than expected, which could cause investors to drop. Goldman Sachs expects to hear that the U.S. economy lost 50,000 jobs in December, which would be the first month of losses since a devastating April.
Hyundai’s stock soars over reports that it could build Apple cars
Hyundai’s inventory recorded its best day in at least two decades after the South Korean carmaker earlier in talks with Apple to develop self-driving electric cars, reports my CNN business colleague Jill Disis.
Details, details: Nothing has been finalized. But several media outlets reported on Friday that Hyundai had confirmed that it was talking to Apple. The news was initially reported by Korea Economic Daily TV and later confirmed by Reuters and Bloomberg.
CNN Business could not confirm the nature of the discussions. Hyundai only said in a statement that “we have received proposals for cooperation from different companies, but no decision has been made yet.” Apple declined to comment.
Nevertheless, the shares in the carmaker are rising. Its share reached more than 19% in Seoul.
Both companies have reason to consider a partnership. The discussion of Apple’s interest in electric, self-driving cars is growing. A Reuters report last month said Apple plans to build a passenger vehicle by 2024. Bloomberg reported this week that Apple has begun early development work on an electric vehicle, but any product resulting from it will be at least five years old.
In an increasingly Internet-connected world, selling services for next-generation cars could become big business for Apple.
Bitcoin Reaches $ 40,000 Only A Few Days After Passing $ 30,000
Bitcoin first reached $ 19,000 in December 2017 before crashing spectacularly to about $ 3,200 a year later. But those who have been holding on to the cryptocurrency are likely to feel satisfied.
Prices fell back to $ 39,000 on Friday morning. However, the value of all Bitcoins in circulation remains striking, amounting to about $ 738 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. The value of all cryptocurrencies now stands at $ 1.1 billion.
Investors have been flocking to Bitcoin over the past few months, and the currency is increasingly seen as a mature asset. Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest crypto-asset manager, says interest is growing from established players such as pension funds and donations.
“It is encouraging to look more seriously at Bitcoin and the digital currency asset class, as it has real potential to reform global finance as we know it,” CEO Michael Sonnenshein said in an email to CNN Business said.
However, there are still many questions about the price. In a note published Thursday, Bank of America told customers that Bitcoin’s rally over the past two years has ‘blown the doors of previous bubbles’. Alex Mashinsky, CEO and founder of Celsius Network, a crypto-asset manager, thinks Bitcoin could fall to $ 16,000 before the end of the first quarter.
Following
The U.S. work report for December arrives at 8:30 p.m. ET.