Benzinga | Sep 27, 2013 10:18AM ET
US markets were lifted by positive jobs data which added to the case for a Federal Reserve taper in the coming month. Initial jobless claims fell by 5,000, which beat expectations and marginally boosted US shares.
However, global shares will likely be depressed in the coming weeks as rocky US congressional negotiations over the nation’s budget have put the US in an uncertain position. A short government shutdown is looking likely as Democrats and Republicans are at odds over an emergency spending bill that will keep the government running past October 1.
A shutdown that lasts a few days isn’t expected to make a huge dent in markets, but it sets a very uncertain tone for negotiations about the US debt ceiling, which, if not resolved will lead to a sovereign debt default.
Top News
In other news around the markets:
Asian markets ended the week on a high, only the NIKKEI faltered, down 0.26 percent. The Hang Seng index was up 0.33 percent, China’s Shanghai composite gained 0.20 percent and the Shenzhen composite was up 0.30 percent.
European Markets
European markets were down across the board on Friday. The UK’s FTSE lost 0.35 percent and the eurozone’s STOXX 600 was down 0.08 percent. Italy’s MIB lost 0.38 percent and the Spanish Ibex was down 0.23 percent.
Commodities
Energy futures lost out on easing tension in the Middle East. Brent futures were down 0.28 percent and WTI futures were down 0.35 percent. Gold gained 0.29 percent and silver was down 0.51 percent. Industrial metals were mostly higher with aluminum up 1.00 percent and tin up 0.22 percent.
Currencies
The euro lost a bit of ground against the dollar and traded at $1.34 but the pound gained 0.22 percent against the dollar. The yen was up 0.35 percent against the dollar and the Australian dollar lost 0.29 percent against the greenback.
Earnings
Notable companies that reported earnings on Thursday included:Accenture plc. (MTN ) is expected to report a loss of $1.70 on revenue of $118.90 million, compared to last year’s loss of $1.50 on revenue of $113.54 million.Economics
Economic releases expected on Friday include, US consumer sentiment, core price index and personal spending data, German CPI, eurozone consumer confidence and industrial sentiment data, Spanish business confidence and retail sales, Italian business confidence, and French GDP and consumer spending.
By Laura Brodbeck
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