Morning Brief: Congressional leaders attend White House border briefing
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
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WHAT TO WATCH
In 2018, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank 6.24%, while the Dow (^DJI) tumbled 5.63%, and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) dropped 3.88%. How will the market kick things off in 2019? Dow futures were down 350 points in pre-market trading, suggesting the sell-off isn't over.
At 9:45 a.m. ET, we’ll get the Markit U.S. manufacturing PMI. Economists are looking for a reading of 53.9, which would signal growth. This comes as many of the regional manufacturing surveys have been taking a sharp turn for the worse.
TOP NEWS
Hill leaders to attend White House briefing on border: Democratic and Republican congressional leaders are expected to attend a briefing on border security at the White House as the government remains partially shut down and President Donald Trump asks in a tweet, "Let's make a deal?" [Associated Press]
China slowdown, trade disputes weigh on Asia factory activity: Factory activity weakened across Asia in December as the Sino-U.S. trade war and a slowdown in Chinese demand hit production in most economies. A series of purchasing managers' indexes for December released mostly showed declines or slowdowns in manufacturing factory activity across the region. Reuters]
Manufacturers stockpiling parts at near record pace: UK manufacturers are frantically stockpiling parts ahead of March’s Brexit deadline to ensure production is not disrupted by Britain’s exit from the European Union. [Yahoo Finance UK]
Drugmakers raise prices on hundreds of medicines: Pharmaceutical companies are ringing in the new year by raising the price of hundreds of drugs, with Allergan PLC (AGN) setting the pace with increases of nearly 10% on more than two dozen products, according to a new analysis. [The Wall Street Journal]
Netflix reportedly pulls comedy show episode in Saudi Arabia: Netfilx pulled an episode of the comedy show "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj" from its Internet streaming service in Saudi Arabia after kingdom officials complained, multiple media outlets reported Tuesday. [Reuters]
The hottest jobs going into 2019: PayScale recently released a report of its “hottest jobs” of 2018, and technology dominated the list of fastest-growing occupations. Design and communication positions also cracked the top 10. [Yahoo Finance]
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