In US economic data, non-farm payrolls (jobs) rose by 372,000 in June (survey: 265,000). The unemployment rate was steady at 3.6% (survey: 3.6%). Average hourly earnings rose by 0.3% in June to be up 5.1% on a year ago (survey: +5.0%). Consumer credit increased by US$22.3 billion in May (survey: US$30.9 billion).
European sharemarkets were firmer on Friday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose by 0.5%, with auto shares up 3.3% to lead gains. The index ended the week up 2.5%. The German Dax index gained 1.3% on Friday. Porsche shares jumped 6.1%. The UK FTSE index edged 0.1% higher. In London trade, shares of Rio Tinto shed 0.5% and BHP shares dipped 1.9%.
US sharemarkets were mixed on Friday. A strong US jobs report alleviated recession fears but cleared the path for the US Federal Reserve to keep raising interest rates to combat inflation. Shares of Twitter slid 5.1% after the Washington Post reported that Elon Musk was planning to terminate his US$44 billion takeover offer. The Dow Jones index fell by 46 points or 0.2% and the S&P 500 index dipped 0.1%. But the Nasdaq index added 14 points or 0.1%. For the week, the Nasdaq gained 4.6%, while the S&P 500 and Dow advanced 1.9% and 0.8%, respectively.
US treasuries fell on Friday (yields higher) after stronger-thanexpected US jobs gains. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he “fully” supports another 75 basis points hike at the US Fed’s July 26-27 meeting. US 10-year yields rose by 7 points to 3.08% and US 2-year yields lifted 6 points to 3.105%. Over the week, US 10-year yields rose by 19 points and US 2-year yields lifted 27 points.
Major currencies were mixed against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.0076 to highs near US$1.0188 and was near US$1.0185 at the US close. And the Aussie dollar lifted from lows near US67.93 cents to highs near US68.73 cents and was near US68.55 cents at the US close. But the Japanese yen eased from near 135.50 yen per US dollar to near JPY136.55 and was near JPY136.10 at the US close. The yen rose 0.5% immediately after former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in Nara, but ceded most of those gains.
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Global oil prices climbed by 2% on Friday. But oil posted a weekly decline as investors worried about a potential recession-driven demand downturn even as global fuel supplies remained tight. The Brent crude price rose by US$2.37 or 2.3% to US$107.02 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude price added US$2.06 or 2.0% to US$104.79 a barrel. Brent posted a weekly decline of US$4.61 a barrel or 4.1% and the Nymex a loss of US$3.64 a barrel or 3.4%.
Base metal prices were mostly lower on Friday. Copper fell by 0.3% extending its losing streak to five weeks to be down 3.1% on global growth concerns. Lead lost 2.5% but nickel rose 0.2% on Friday. Tin shed 4.9% over the week, but zinc was up by 3.0%.
The gold futures price rose by US$2.60 or 0.1% to US$1,742.30 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,742 an ounce at the US close. Over the week, gold fell by US$59.20 an ounce or 3.3%. The iron ore futures price shed US42 cents or 0.4% to US$113.76 a tonne. For the week, iron ore slid by US$1.47 a tonne or 1.3%. Ahead: No major economic data is due in Australia, China or the US.
Originally published by CommSec
