Markets on tenterhooks ahead of key US jobs data
By Stella Qiu
SYDNEY, Sept 6 (Reuters) -Asian shares clung to tight ranges and the dollar nursed losses on Friday, with investors on tenterhooks ahead of U.S. jobs data that could decide the size and speed of coming rate cuts in the world's largest economy.
As of now, oil prices are staring down their worst week in more than a year to hover just above a critical chart level, with their near-term fate depending on the payrolls report due later in the day. O/R
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS edged 0.2% higher, having fallen 2.3% so far this week. The Nikkei .N225 slipped 0.1% to be down 3.9% for the week.
China's sharemarkets opened mixed, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI was flat.
The nervous markets, however, knocked the Nasdaq futures NQc1 down 0.6% while S&P futures ESc1 slipped 0.3%.
The Japanese yen JPY=EBS is vulnerable to a sharp pull-back after its 2% rally this week and was last 0.1% higher at 143.27 per dollar.
There is a lot riding on the U.S. non-farm payrolls report after the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers do not welcome any further weakening in the labour market, laying the ground for a September rate cut.
Analysts are looking for a rise of 165,000 in new jobs and a dip in the unemployment rate to 4.2%.
However, risks are now to the downside after soft job openings and fewer job gains in the private sector led markets to ramp up the chance of a half-point cut from the Fed to 42% this month.
Influential Fed governor Christopher Waller and New York Fed President John Williams will be speaking after the jobs data, giving the market a near-instant reaction.
Analysts at ING said even if the payrolls come in line with expectations, markets might still scale back the chance of a 50 basis point cut.
"We suspect the market is actually positioned for a sub-100k number. If we don't get that type of validation for material slowdown, yields will be under pressure to rise for a bit," said Padhraic Garvey, regional head of research, Americas, at ING.
Bonds rallied earlier in the week, although gains could quickly reverse depending on the payrolls data. Two-year Treasury yields US2YT=RR fell 17 basis points so far this week to 3.7520%, the lowest since early 2023.
Ten-year yields US10YT=RR were down 18 bps to 3.7330%, with the spread over two years on the verge of turning positive.
Oil is facing the worst week since October 2023 as demand worries weighed against a big withdrawal from U.S. inventories and a delay to output increases by OPEC+ producers. O/R
The supply issues failed to elicit a jump in crude prices. Brent crude futures LCOc1 steadied on Friday, up 0.2% to $72.8 a barrel, but were down 7.6% so far in the week.
They were pinned near a key range of $70 to $71, a break of which would open the way to levels not seen since late 2021.
Gold XAU= was flat at $2,514 an ounce, just a touch below its record high.
In deals news, Japanese retail giant Seven & i Holdings 3382.T said on Friday it had rejected Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard's ATD.TO $38.5 billion cash bid for the company because the proposal was not in the interest of shareholders.
Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
Reporting by Stella Qiu; Editing by Sam Holmes
To read Reuters Markets and Finance news, click on https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets For the state of play of Asian stock markets please click on: 0#.INDEXA
Asset collegati
Ultime news
Disclaimer: le entità di XM Group forniscono servizi di sola esecuzione e accesso al nostro servizio di trading online, che permette all'individuo di visualizzare e/o utilizzare i contenuti disponibili sul sito o attraverso di esso; non ha il proposito di modificare o espandere le proprie funzioni, né le modifica o espande. L'accesso e l'utilizzo sono sempre soggetti a: (i) Termini e condizioni; (ii) Avvertenza sui rischi e (iii) Disclaimer completo. Tali contenuti sono perciò forniti a scopo puramente informativo. Nello specifico, ti preghiamo di considerare che i contenuti del nostro servizio di trading online non rappresentano un sollecito né un'offerta ad operare sui mercati finanziari. Il trading su qualsiasi mercato finanziario comporta un notevole livello di rischio per il tuo capitale.
Tutto il materiale pubblicato sul nostro servizio di trading online è unicamente a scopo educativo e informativo, e non contiene (e non dovrebbe essere considerato come contenente) consigli e raccomandazioni di carattere finanziario, di trading o fiscale, né informazioni riguardanti i nostri prezzi di trading, offerte o solleciti riguardanti transazioni che possano coinvolgere strumenti finanziari, oppure promozioni finanziarie da te non richieste.
Tutti i contenuti di terze parti, oltre ai contenuti offerti da XM, siano essi opinioni, news, ricerca, analisi, prezzi, altre informazioni o link a siti di terzi presenti su questo sito, sono forniti "così com'è", e vanno considerati come commenti generali sui mercati; per questo motivo, non possono essere visti come consigli di investimento. Dato che tutti i contenuti sono intesi come ricerche di investimento, devi considerare e accettare che non sono stati preparati né creati seguendo i requisiti normativi pensati per promuovere l'indipendenza delle ricerche di investimento; per questo motivo, questi contenuti devono essere considerati come comunicazioni di marketing in base alle leggi e normative vigenti. Assicurati di avere letto e compreso pienamente la nostra Notifica sulla ricerca di investimento non indipendente e la nostra Informativa sul rischio riguardante le informazioni sopra citate; tali documenti sono consultabili qui.