Global Markets:
● Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 1.03%, Shanghai Composite up 0.35% Hang Seng up 2.15% ASX down 0.15%
● Commodities : Gold at $4,520.09 (-0.46%) Silver at $67.336 (-0.55%), Brent Oil at 95.97 (0.48%), WTI Oil at 91.98 (0.73%)
● Rates : US 10-year yield at 4.766, UK 10-year yield at 5.1404, Germany 10-year yield at 3.3500
News & Data:
● (USD) Unemployment Claims 206K to 205% expected
Markets Update:
U.S. stock futures were little changed Thursday evening as investors turned their attention to August’s closely watched payrolls report.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 3 points, or 0.01%, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.03% and Nasdaq-100 futures declined 0.06%.
The three major U.S. averages posted strong gains during Thursday’s regular session. The Dow jumped more than 600 points, or 1.2%, marking its best performance since Aug. 4. The S&P 500 gained more than 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.4%.
Asian markets opened higher Friday. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.13%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.74%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.9%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 added 0.89%.
U.S. stocks received support as Treasury yields declined following comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who indicated he would be inclined to support keeping interest rates at their current 3.5%-3.75% target range at the Fed’s Sept. 15-16 meeting.
Investors are now focused on Friday’s August jobs report. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect 53,000 nonfarm payrolls were added, with unemployment at 4.1%, compared with a 23,000-job decline in July.
Stocks remain on track for weekly gains, with the S&P 500 up 0.5%, Nasdaq 0.7%, and Dow 0.2%. Investors will also watch next week’s inflation data, including CPI and PPI, for policy clues.
Upcoming Events:
● 12:30 PM GMT – USD Average Hourly Earnings m/m