Daily Market Color December 3, 2020Vaccine Delay Pulls Rates Lower Across the Curve Pfizer said to only ship 50 million vaccine doses before year end, down from original projections of 100 million Concerns around Pfizer’s vaccine supply chain pulled Treasury yields and swap rates lower on the day– swap rates and Treasury yields closing 1-4 bps lower across the curve. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, ending a two-session streak of gains while the DJIA eked out a 0.3% gain. OPEC+ has agreed to increase their total output by 500,000 barrels/day starting next month After massive production cuts and the sharp decline in March, international oil prices have gradually bounced back, rising 25% in November. Brent crude and WTI futures rose 0.6% and 0.30% on the day. Initial jobless claims fell to 712,000 from 787,000 the week before to hit a new pandemic low The decline ended a two-week streak of increases for initial claims. The level beat expectations and brought the four-week average down to 739,500. Unemployment rate is expected to fall to 6.8% in tomorrow’s jobs report Despite the strong rebound in employment thus far, economists believe the pace of hiring may have slowed in November as virus cases surged once again. Forecasts call for a payrolls increase of only 500,000, down from October’s 638,000 increase.
