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U.S. consumer prices climb at fastest pace since 1982
Gold prices climbed on Friday, as consumer prices in the United States rose at their fastest pace in nearly 40 years.
Figures released by the Labor Department showed that the annual rate of inflation climbed by 6.8% from a year ago, which is the quickest gain since 1982.
đź’ˇ Its not just gas and food prices… The core price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, climbed 4.9% compared to last year. That means that the price of other goods and services like clothing, haircuts and TVs are also rising, too. |
On a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose to 0.8% last month, after increasing by 0.9% in October.
This comes after markets had forecasted CPI to rise by 0.7% in November. The biggest contributor to the increase was gasoline prices, which rose by 6.1% from the month prior.
XAUUSD was up close to $20 on the day.
FTSE 100 lower, on Britain’s GDP data
In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 ended the week lower, as the nation’s economic growth slowed in recent months.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK’s Gross domestic product was up by 0.1% in October, lower than estimates for a 0.4% increase.
The figure was also considerably lower than September’s 0.6% growth rate, and came prior to the emergence of the Omicron variant.
💡 Best performing and worst performing sectors Growth was recorded by: Human health – This increased by 3.5% as the number of face-to-face appointments at GP surgeries in England continued to rise. Car/motorcycle sales and repairs – This sector posted a strong 8.5% improvement, although this followed a large 13.3% decline in September. However, the impact of these bright spots was undermined by a number of key contractions. Sectors that struggled in October included: Construction – One of the UK’s key industries, construction output fell by 1.8% – the largest drop since April 2020 – and the sector is now 2.8% below its pre-pandemic level. Accommodation and food services – This previously buoyant sector (30% growth in Q3) declined by 7.5%, with a fall in restaurant activity a key factor. |
Speaking shortly after the data was released, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak stated that, “We’ve always acknowledged there could be bumps on our road to recovery”.
London’s FTSE 100 closed 0.40% on the news.
Shares in Chinese ride hailing company Didi were lower to end the week, as it was announced that it would delist from the New York Stock Exchange.
Didi, which went public in June, after raising $4 billion via an IPO, had been under pressure by Beijing for the past few months since its listing.
Day’s after its IPO, the company was unable to register new users, as the Chinese government was investigating the firm for “security breaches”.
As a result, shares in the company fell by as much as 50% from its listing price, and seems to have been the final factor in the company taking this decision.
Although the Chinese government has not banned foreign listings, it has begun to put regulatory pressure on company’s who opt to do so.
$DIDI was down 3.43% as of writing.
“All the math you need in the stock market you get in the fourth grade.”
– Peter Lynch