In US economic data, the economy added 263,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in November (survey: +200,000). But the
unemployment rate was steady at 3.7% last month (survey: 3.7%) with the labour force participation rate slightly weaker at 62.1%. Average hourly earnings rose by 0.6% in November to a 5.1% annual pace (survey: 4.6%), up from the 4.9% rate in October.

European sharemarkets eased modestly on Friday. Energy fell by 1.1% with technology down 0.5% but real estate rose by 1.3% and retailers rose 0.7%. Shares in Credit Suisse rose 9.3% after announcing it will speed up cost cutting. The continentwide FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 0.1% and the UK FTSE 100 fell by less than 0.1%.

US sharemarkets ended mixed on Friday after rallying off session lows. The US jobs report was firmer than expected but investors still expect the Federal Reserve to scale back rate hikes at future meetings. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index was up by 35 points or 0.1% after being down 356 points earlier in the session. But the S&P 500 index fell by 0.1%. And the Nasdaq index lost 21 points or 0.2%. Over the week the Dow rose 0.2%, the S&P 500 rose 1.1% and the Nasdaq gained 2.1%.

US government bonds were mixed on Friday. US 10-year Treasury yields fell by 4 points to near 3.49%. But US 2-year Treasury yields rose by 3 points to near 4.28%. Over the week US 10-year yields fell by 20 points and US 2-year yields fell by 19 points.

Major currencies ended mixed against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from highs near US$1.0545 to lows near US$1.0430 but was back near US$1.0540 at the US close. The Aussie dollar fell from highs
near US68.35 cents to lows near US67.50 cents and was back near US67.90 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen eased from near 133.65 yen per US dollar to near JPY135.95 and was at JPY134.30 at the US close.

 

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Global oil prices fell 1.5% on Friday ahead of an OPEC+ meeting and a EU ban on Russian crude. Oil prices were
supported by a report where “sources told Reuters” that China was set to announce an easing of Covid restrictions. The Brent crude oil price fell by US$1.31 or 1.5% to US$85.57 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude oil price fell by US$1.24 or 1.5% to US$79.98 a barrel. Over the week Brent rose by US$1.94 or 2.3% while Nymex rose by US$3.70 or 4.9%.

Base metal prices advanced on Friday with copper up 1.1% and aluminium up 2.5%. Over the week, copper rose 6.2% and aluminium rose 7.1%.

The gold futures price fell by US$5.60 an ounce or 0.3% to US$1,809.60 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,798 an ounce at the US close. Over the week gold rose US$55.60 an ounce or 3.2%. Iron ore futures rose by US$4.34 a tonne or 4.2% to US$107.44 a tonne. Over the week iron ore rose by US$14.70 or 15.9%.

Ahead: In Australia, data covering September quarter business profits, sales, stocks and wages are issued. The
Melbourne Institute’s monthly inflation gauge is scheduled with new vehicle sales.

Purchasing manager surveys are released in Australia, the US and China covering services & composite measures. In the US, factory orders figures are issued.

Originally published by CommSec