Trump Lifts 25% Tariff on Indian Goods in Strategic U.S.–India Trade and Energy Deal 
Vietnam’s Trade Surplus With US Jumps as Exports Surge and China Imports Hit Record 
Australia’s December Trade Surplus Expands but Falls Short of Expectations 
Dollar Steadies Ahead of ECB and BoE Decisions as Markets Turn Risk-Off 
Asian Markets Slip as AI Spending Fears Shake Tech, Wall Street Futures Rebound 
RBI Holds Repo Rate at 5.25% as India’s Growth Outlook Strengthens After U.S. Trade Deal 
Dow Hits 50,000 as U.S. Stocks Stage Strong Rebound Amid AI Volatility 
Silver Prices Plunge in Asian Trade as Dollar Strength Triggers Fresh Precious Metals Sell-Off 
Today ADP employment numbers were released from US for the month of December.
ADP number shows the US labor markets are showing a lot of volatility lately.
There are two things to note in the headline that,
- Return to weakness just after a month of strength.
- November payroll got a revision. It has now revised to 215,000 (down from 228,000). October was revised higher to 124,000 (+5,000).
Key highlights –
- Non-farm private sector employment grew at 153,000 in December, median expectation was for 173,000.
- Small business sector hiring at 18,000, compared to 37,000 last month.
- Employment in franchise increased to 23,300 compared to last month’s 15,100.
- Mid-sized companies added 71,000 jobs compared to last month’s 89,000 jobs.
- Large sector added just 63,000 compared to last month’s 90,000 jobs.
- Manufacturing sector payroll registered 9,000 jobs losses compared to 10,000 job losses last month.
- 16,000 jobs were lost in the goods-producing sector, compared to last month’s 11,000 jobs losses.
- Construction sector saw 2,000 jobs loss, compared to last month’s 2,000 jobs gain.
- Services sector employment remains robust as payroll added 169,000 people in December November gains were 228,000.
The Dollar index is currently trading at 102.39, flat for the day so far.
