The United States economy continues to post strong numbers for economic indicators as today's continuing jobs claims for unemployment beat expectations. This development comes as the reverse in happening in China as recent fiscal stimulus fails to stop the slide in economic growth expectations to the downside from what the Chinese Communist Party says it needs to keep the people happy.

China's largest utility company State Grid has warned that the rate of economic growth in the country is expected to slide to 4% in the next four years, reported Zero Hedge.

In other news, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin told CNBC during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, “The president has asked us to start working on what we call ‘tax 2.0,’ and that will be additional tax cuts...They’ll be tax cuts for the middle class, and we’ll also be looking at other incentives to stimulate economic growth."

Financial markets in the U.S. were generally lower however as traders used the growing coronavirus threat as a reason to reduce positions and risk.

Initial Jobless Claims (Jan 17) printed at 211k vs 215k consensus estimate.

Continuing Jobless Claims (Jan 10) printed at 1.731M vs 1.746 estimate.

Kansas Fed Manufacturing Activity (Jan) beat at -4 vs -6 estimate.

Consumer Confidence (Jan) PREL posted at -8.1 vs -7.8 estimate, slightly missing.

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