Global stock index rises with dollar, yields as data calms nerves
Updates prices throughout after U.S. stock market close
By Sinéad Carew and Harry Robertson
NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) -A closely followed global equities index jumped more than 1% on Thursday after lower-than-expected weekly U.S. unemployment claims calmed recession fears, also pushing Treasury yields higher alongside the U.S. dollar.
Oil futures registered their third straight day of gains, with growing supply risks in the Middle East offsetting any demand concerns that at the start of the week had pushed prices to their lowest levels since early 2024.
The U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday that initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 233,000 for the week ended Aug. 3, marking the largest drop in about 11 months and falling short of economist expectations for 240,000.
The claims data was closely monitored after a weaker-than-expected July jobs report last Friday helped spark Monday's financial market rout that spanned the globe.
The sell-off was partly caused by investors being forced to unwind carry trades, where they borrow cheaply in Japan to buy dollars and other currencies to invest in higher yielding assets. The unwind helped trigger a 12% plunge in Japanese stocks on Monday and the S&P 500 .SPX followed with a 3% drop.
On Thursday, however, Wall Street's swing was bullish. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 683.04 points, or 1.76%, to 39,446.49, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 119.81 points, or 2.30%, to 5,319.31 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 464.22 points, or 2.87%, to 16,660.02.
Thursday's move was "a very, amplified reaction," to the claims data said Tony Roth, chief investment officer Wilmington Trust in Radnor, Pennsylvania.
"It's a lot more importance being ascribed to a single minor data point than you'd typically see. Jobless claims is important but any one reading is minor in a very high-frequency data set. There's a lot of volatility around it."
But he said that the latest data was particularly encouraging after the weak July jobs report and a better than expected services sector survey earlier this week.
"Today is the second data point we got this week which suggests that the July report last Friday was the aberration," he said.
But strategists and money managers suggest that investors should prepare for more volatility with other factors in play besides the typical weakness seen in August and September.
"We've U.S. elections, heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and poor seasonality as well as the incoming economic data and the Fed's reaction to it. We're in a period of heightened uncertainty and the market hates uncertainty," said Irene Tunkel, chief U.S. equity strategist at BCA Research.
Earlier, Europe's STOXX 600 .STOXX index closed up 0.08%.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS rose 11.40 points, or 1.48%, to 782.10. Prior to Thursday's session, the global index had registered 16 daily losses or gains of 1% or more while the S&P 500 has registered 32 such moves so far this year.
STRONGER DOLLAR
In the currency market, the dollar index =USD, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, gained 0.09% at 103.20, with the euro EUR= down 0.04% to $1.0917.
Against the Japanese yen JPY=, the dollar strengthened 0.3% to 147.13.
Earlier on Thursday, yields on U.S. Treasuries rose after the unemployment claims data fuelled hopes that the U.S. economy would not face an imminent recession. Then muted demand for a 30-year bond auction added to the rise in yields, coming a day after a weak sale of 10-year notes.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR rose 2.1 basis points to 3.988%, from 3.967% late on Wednesday.
The 30-year bond US30YT=RR yield rose 1.6 basis points to 4.2775% from 4.261%.
The 2-year note US2YT=RR yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, rose 2.9 basis points to 4.0297%, from 4.001% late on Wednesday.
In energy markets, U.S. crude CLc1 settled up 1.28%, or 96 cents at $76.19 a barrel and Brent LCOc1 finished at $79.16 per barrel, up 1.06% on the day.
In precious metals, spot gold XAU= added 1.78% to $2,423.87 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCc1 gained 1.25% to $2,420.50 an ounce.
Recession indicator turns positive for first time since 2022 Recession indicator turns positive for first time since 2022 https://reut.rs/3A8fn4m
Investors bet on deeper Fed rate cuts after weak jobs data Investors bet on deeper Fed rate cuts after weak jobs data https://reut.rs/4df7NDF
Reporting by Sinéad Carew, Noel Randewich, Karen Brettell and Harry Robertson
Editing Gareth Jones, Kirsten Donovan, Sharon Singleton, Paul Simao and Sandra Maler
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
Gerelateerde activa
Laatste nieuws
Disclaimer: De entiteiten van de XM Group bieden diensten en toegang tot ons online handelsplatform op basis van uitsluitend-uitvoering, waardoor een persoon de beschikbare content op of via de website kan bekijken en/of gebruiken, zonder dat dit is bedoeld voor wijziging of uitbreiding. Dergelijk(e) toegang en gebruik vallen onder: (i) de algemene voorwaarden; (ii) risicowaarschuwingen; en de (iii) volledige disclaimer. Dergelijke content wordt daarom alleen aangeboden als algemene informatie. Wees u er daarnaast vooral van bewust dat de inhoud op ons online handelsplatform geen verzoek of aanbieding omvat om transacties op de financiële markten uit te voeren. Het beleggen op welke financiële markt dan ook vormt een aanzienlijk risico voor uw vermogen.
Alle materialen die op ons online handelsplatform worden gepubliceerd zijn bedoeld voor educatieve/informatieve doeleinden en omvatten geen – en moeten niet worden beschouwd als het bevatten van – financieel, vermogensbelastings- of handelsadvies en aanbevelingen, of een overzicht van onze handelsprijzen, of een aanbod of aanvraag van een transactie in financiële instrumenten of ongevraagde financiële promoties voor u.
Alle content van derden, alsmede content die is voorbereid door XM, zoals opinies, nieuws, onderzoeken, analyses, prijzen en andere informatie of koppelingen naar externe websites op deze website worden aangeboden op een 'zoals-ze-zijn'-basis, als algemene marktcommentaren, en vormen geen beleggingsadvies. Voor zover dat content wordt beschouwd als beleggingsonderzoek, moet u zich ervan bewust zijn en accepteren dat de content niet bedoeld was en niet is voorbereid in overeenstemming met de wettelijke vereisten die zijn opgesteld om de onafhankelijkheid van beleggingsonderzoek te bevorderen en als zodanig onder de geldende wetgeving en richtlijnen moet worden beschouwd als marketingcommunicatie. Zorg ervoor dat u onze Mededeling over niet-onafhankelijk beleggingsonderzoek en risicowaarschuwing in verband met de voorgaande informatie doorneemt en begrijpt; die kunt u hier lezen.
