European Union Producer Prices Rose 1.2 Percent in December

The U.S. Labor Department reported that employers added 517,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, an increase from 260,000 in December. The unemployment rate was 3.4%, the lowest since 1969. Even as hiring surged, wage growth slowed to 0.3% compared with December.

Yesterday Meta (META) shares skyrocketed 23% after the social media giant beat expectations (read our special report), set a Facebook DAU record, and said it would implement a $40 billion stock buyback. Shares of Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Alphabet (GOOGL) also took off ahead of their after-the-close earnings reports. Apple and Alphabet came up short on both profit and sales estimates, while Amazon missed on earnings and gave weak current quarter revenue guidance. Shares of all three are sinking in extended trading (more below). Microsoft (MSFT) and Salesforce (CRM) shares were up.

Today, at the time of writing, the S&P 500 is down 1.47%, with 7 of the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 in the red. Yesterday the best performer was Communication Services, 6.74%, with Omnicom Group (OMC) +4.79%, Lumen Technologies (CTL) +4.66%, and Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) +4.59%. The worst performer was Energy, 2.52%, with Halliburton (HAL) -5.58%, ConocoPhillips (COP) -5.44%, and Diamondback Energy (FANG) -4.03%.

At the time of writing, most European equity benchmarks are trading lower. As we remember, the day before, the ECB and the Bank of England (BoE) both raised their key interest rates by 50 basis points and promised more hikes.

The German DAX is currently trading 0.90% lower but Porsche AG (PAH3.DE) is adding 0.38%. The French CAC 40 is falling by 0.34%. The Euro Stoxx 600 retreated by 0.42%. Meanwhile, the British FTSE 100 stood flat.

The European Commission's statistical office Eurostat announced in a report, that producer prices in the Eurozone and the entire European Union rose by 1.1% and 1.2%, respectively, in December 2022 MoM. Meanwhile, year over year, the index recorded a 24.6% increase in the euro area and 25.2% in the EU. According to the report, by industrial groups, in the eurozone, the energy sector experienced an increase of 48.6% annually, followed by gains in non-durable consumer goods and intermediate goods of 15.6% and 13.8%.

United Kingdom Services PMI Business Activity Index stood at 48.7 in January 2023, decreasing 1.2 index points compared to the month prior but rising 0.7 index points from the preliminary figure, S&P Global unveiled in a report earlier. The main reading landed at its weakest point since January 2021.