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CNN Live At Daybreak
Markets Closed Down Yesterday
Aired December 16, 2003 - 06:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little 'Business Buzz' now. Despite the euphoria over the capture of Saddam Hussein, the Monday markets closed down.
Stacey Tisdale has a preview of today's action. She is live from the Nasdaq market site.
Was there surprise on Wall Street and the business community that the markets closed down yesterday?
STACEY TISDALE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I was surprised. A lot of the people that I have spoken to, Carol, were surprised. But there was -- people are really focusing on the holiday shopping season. And there was so much hype this was going to be a super strong holiday shopping season because of the rebound in the economy, people are very disappointed that the numbers aren't really living up to the expectations. So the Saddam capture really got lost in the shuffle.
But think about it, we had back-to-back snowstorms here in the northeast on the weekend, and people in the northeast spend the most on the holiday season. So when trading starts this morning, we're going to have the Dow Jones industrials at 10,022. Yesterday we lost more than 19 points. We had a more than 30-point loss for the Nasdaq, starting at 1918. S&P 500 losing more than six.
But today the focus can kind of go back to the economy a little bit, because housing starts and inflation, we're going to see the latest numbers on those sectors. The consumer price index, which measures the changes in prices that you and I pay, is actually expected to rise by one-tenth of 1 percent. But housing starts, that's when they break ground to build a new home, that number expected to fall by 3 percent. The housing sector is really cooling because we're seeing a rise in mortgage rates.
But I have got some good news today. We have some good news on the job front. The U.S. employers planning to boost hiring next year, courtesy of the strengthening economy. This according to a survey conducted by Manpower. Companies will add more jobs than they will cut in the first three months of '04. Twenty percent are going to add jobs, 13 percent are going to cut, 61 percent are not going to change at all. It's actually been five years since hiring rose between the fourth and first quarters. Employers in the west, actually, the most optimistic. Employers in the midwest are the least.
So a little bit of a mixed bag out there on the economy, Carol. But so far it does look like it's going to be a stronger open, so maybe people getting over that retail stuff a little bit. We'll see what happens.
COSTELLO: Hopefully. Yes. Stacey Tisdale reporting live from the Nasdaq market site this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 16, 2003 - 06:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little 'Business Buzz' now. Despite the euphoria over the capture of Saddam Hussein, the Monday markets closed down.
Stacey Tisdale has a preview of today's action. She is live from the Nasdaq market site.
Was there surprise on Wall Street and the business community that the markets closed down yesterday?
STACEY TISDALE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I was surprised. A lot of the people that I have spoken to, Carol, were surprised. But there was -- people are really focusing on the holiday shopping season. And there was so much hype this was going to be a super strong holiday shopping season because of the rebound in the economy, people are very disappointed that the numbers aren't really living up to the expectations. So the Saddam capture really got lost in the shuffle.
But think about it, we had back-to-back snowstorms here in the northeast on the weekend, and people in the northeast spend the most on the holiday season. So when trading starts this morning, we're going to have the Dow Jones industrials at 10,022. Yesterday we lost more than 19 points. We had a more than 30-point loss for the Nasdaq, starting at 1918. S&P 500 losing more than six.
But today the focus can kind of go back to the economy a little bit, because housing starts and inflation, we're going to see the latest numbers on those sectors. The consumer price index, which measures the changes in prices that you and I pay, is actually expected to rise by one-tenth of 1 percent. But housing starts, that's when they break ground to build a new home, that number expected to fall by 3 percent. The housing sector is really cooling because we're seeing a rise in mortgage rates.
But I have got some good news today. We have some good news on the job front. The U.S. employers planning to boost hiring next year, courtesy of the strengthening economy. This according to a survey conducted by Manpower. Companies will add more jobs than they will cut in the first three months of '04. Twenty percent are going to add jobs, 13 percent are going to cut, 61 percent are not going to change at all. It's actually been five years since hiring rose between the fourth and first quarters. Employers in the west, actually, the most optimistic. Employers in the midwest are the least.
So a little bit of a mixed bag out there on the economy, Carol. But so far it does look like it's going to be a stronger open, so maybe people getting over that retail stuff a little bit. We'll see what happens.
COSTELLO: Hopefully. Yes. Stacey Tisdale reporting live from the Nasdaq market site this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
