New York (AFP) – The dollar fell sharply Friday after the US economy shed thousands of jobs in July, an economic blow that lowered the risk of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve that could slow growth in the world’s biggest economy. Stocks gained on the report that showed 23,000 jobs were lost last month, upending expectations that 80,000 to 100,000 new posts would be created. Wall Street’s S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent to close at a new record, with the tech-focused Nasdaq up more than one percent and the Dow also closing in the black.
Nearly every European market closed higher, with Paris, Frankfurt, and Milan again reaching all-time highs. Combined with steep downward revisions to US jobs readings in May and June, the data is “likely to revive concerns among Fed officials about the health of the labor market and make them less inclined to commit to near-term tightening,” said Thomas Ryan, an economist at Capital Economics. Art Hogan at B. Riley Wealth Management said the new data would likely give the Federal Reserve pause in considering interest rate hikes.
“It certainly changed the dynamic of the predicting markets about monetary policy,” he told AFP. “There was a little bit of a respite in the rise in Treasury yields…and that also takes away a bit of a headwind for equities.” Stocks have powered ahead in recent sessions, fueled largely by tech names after corporate earnings beat forecasts and eased fears about when massive AI investments would start paying off. Hopes for an imminent US-Iran deal to end the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz added to optimism that oil and gas, along with other key products, would again start flowing freely after more than five months of war.
But oil prices turned higher ahead of the weekend in the absence of any confirmation of an accord, amid reports that Iran was planning to block US and Israeli ships from the waterway. Analysts said prices were unlikely to fall back to levels seen before the US-Iran war, when the main futures contracts were under $70 a barrel, absent concrete signs of progress after days of conflicting comments from officials on both sides.
– Key figures around 2000 GMT –
New York – DOW: UP 0.3 percent at 54,036.93 points (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.6 percent at 7,757.64 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: UP 1.3 percent at 26,690.62 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 10,901.09 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 8,714.93 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 26,319.45 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 65,606.71 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 25,668.03 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 3,940.04 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1567 from $1.1524 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3499 from $1.3456
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 157.50 yen from 158.40 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 85.68 pence from 85.65 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.3 percent at $83.55 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.2 percent at $78.18 per barrel
© 2024 AFP
