Financial markets rose on Thursday as investors digested a better-than-expected U.S. retail sales report and data showing an unexpected drop in weekly applications for unemployment benefits.
The Mexican peso was trading at 18.6711 per dollar, up 0.58 percent from Wednesday’s Reuters reference price, in its third consecutive day of gains.
The leading S&P/BMV IPC index rose 0.50 percent to 53,988.13 points shortly after the opening, driven mainly by firms in the mining sector.
Shares of Grupo Mexico, one of the world’s leading copper producers, led the gains, up 2.86 percent to 108.14 pesos, followed by Industrias Peñoles, which rose 2.14 percent to 257.44 pesos.
In the United States, the Dow Jones index gained 1.07 percent, the Nasdaq technology index 1.17 percent and the S&P 500 0.96 percent in early trading.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting an orderly slowdown in the labor market remains in place, although laid-off workers are having some difficulty finding new jobs.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 227,000 in the week ended Aug. 10, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 235,000 applications for the latest week.
A surge in the unemployment rate in July, which approached a three-year high of 4.3 percent, stoked fears of a deteriorating labor market, and financial markets are betting the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates by 50 basis points next month. However, layoffs remain low by historical standards.
Retail sales rose 1 percent last month, following a downwardly revised 0.2 percent drop in June, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau reported.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales, which are mostly goods and not adjusted for inflation, would advance 0.3 percent, after earlier reporting they were unchanged.
Signs that demand is not collapsing could prompt financial markets to scale back expectations for a 50-basis-point interest rate cut next month. Odds still favor a quarter-point rate cut, as inflation rose slightly in July.
Retail sales excluding autos, gasoline, building materials and food services rose 0.3 percent last month, after advancing an unrevised 0.9 percent in June.
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