EmailTuesday's action was pretty non-descript as the major averages made their way to small losses by the closing bell. The back and forth on the fiscal cliff was a debilitating force.
The cash market is indicated to open about 0.2% higher today.
Reportedly, a rally in China that followed a supportive speech from new leader Xi Jinping has provided a boost for global equity markets.
Reuters notes that Jinping indicated tax reform, urbanization and a bigger price-setting role for the market as key objectives. These weren't entirely new viewpoints, yet the Shanghai Composite surged 2.9% in a reflex bid that followed large losses of late.
Notably, the new leader didn't actually announce any new stimulus, but it was presumed his remarks suggest he will be heading in that direction in due time.
European bourses moved in response, but larger gains were pared on a report that retail sales declined 1.2% in the eurozone in October. That was well below expectations.
Most European markets continue to cling to modest gains and will now keep an eye trained on the behavior of the US market.
There isn't any significant corporate news of note. And there certainly isn't any significant news of note on the fiscal cliff.
It's a bit of a humdrum morning frankly.
The ADP Employment Change report for November didn't produce any major surprises. It was estimated that 118,000 private sector jobs were created in November versus the Briefing.com consensus estimate of 125,000. The October change was revised only slightly to 157,000 from 158,000.
Moody's indicated that Superstorm Sandy sliced an estimated 86,000 jobs from payrolls. Adding those jobs back would put the headline number above 200,000, which would be a decent number. Still, the market looks as if it is going to refrain from the extrapolation game.
The S&P futures actually dipped a bit following the ADP number.
Separately, third quarter productivity was revised up to 2.9% from 1.9%, which is the fastest rate since the third quarter of 2010. The Briefing.com consensus estimate was pegged at 2.7%.
Unit labor costs, meanwhile, declined 1.9% verus the prior -0.1% reading. The sharp change was the result of the upward revision to third quarter output that occurred without any changes to hours worked.
The market showed little reaction to this dated news and looks ready to play the waiting game again today with respect to breaking headlines.
