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• In US economic data, non-farm payrolls (jobs) rose by 428,000 in April (survey: 391,000). The jobless rate was unchanged at 3.6% (survey: 3.5%). Average weekly earnings rose 0.3% in April (survey:+0.4%) and fell from an annual rate of 5.6% to 5.5% as expected. Consumer credit rose by US$52.43 billion in March (survey: US$25bn) – the biggest rise in 11 years.
• European sharemarkets were weaker on Friday. Technology shares fell 2.8% and retailers lost 2% but oil and gas rose 0.5%. Shares in Adidas fell by 3.6% after lowering sales expectations for 2022. And shares in Dutch bank, ING lost 4.7% in response to worse-than-expected quarterly income. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell by 1.9% and fell 4.5% over the week – the biggest weekly decline in 2 months. The German Dax lost 1.6% and the UK FTSE fell by 1.5%. In London trade shares in Rio Tinto fell by 0.7% and shares in BHP fell by 0.1%.
• US sharemarkets fell on Friday with nine of 11 S&P sectors weaker. Shares in sportswear maker, Under Armour, slumped 23.8% after downgrading profit expectations. The Dow Jones fell by 99 points or 0.3%. The S&P 500 index fell by 0.6%. And the Nasdaq index lost 173 points or 1.4% to a 2-year low. Over the week the Dow and the S&P 500 fell by just 0.2% and the Nasdaq shed 1.5%. Stocks have fallen for five straight weeks – the longest losing sequence in 11 years.
• US long-term treasuries fell on Friday (yields higher). US 10-year yields rose by 7 points to near 3.14%. And US 2-year yields rose by 1 point to near 2.73%. Over the week US 10-year yields rose by 20 points. And US 2-year yields rose by less than 1 point.
• Major currencies were mixed against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from near US$1.0485 to US$1.0595 and was near US$1.0550 at the US close. The Aussie dollar fell from US71.30 cents to US70.60 cents and was at US70.77 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen held between 130.21 yen per US dollar and JPY130.69 and was at JPY130.55 at the US close.
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• Global oil prices rose by around 1.3% on Friday on impending European Union sanctions on Russian oil imports. The Brent crude price rose by US$1.49 or 1.3% to US$112.39 a barrel. US Nymex crude rose by US$1.51 or 1.4% to US$109.77 a barrel. Over the week the Brent price rose by 2.8% and the Nymex price rose by 4.9%.
• Base metal prices fell by as much as 3.5% on Friday with zinc down the most. Zinc lost 8.8% over the week but lead lost just 1.6%.
• The gold futures price rose by US$7.10 or 0.4% to US$1,882.80 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,883 an ounce at the US close. Over the week gold fell by US$28.90 or 1.5%. The iron ore futures price fell by US$6.76 or 4.7% to US$138.44 a tonne after the Chinese Politburo reiterated support for the current Covid strategy. Over the week iron ore fell by US$7.86 or 5.4%. Ahead: In Australia, no major data is expected on Monday. In China, international trade data is released. In the US, data on consumer inflation expectations is issued.
