In US economic data, non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 263,000 in September (survey: 250,000). The unemployment rate fell from 3.7% to 3.5% (survey: 3.7%). Average hourly earnings rose by 0.3% (survey: 0.3%). Consumer credit rose by US$32.24 billion in August (survey: US$24.5bn)
European sharemarkets eased on Friday. The latest US jobs data confirmed that the Federal Reserve will continue with its aggressive monetary policy strategy. Shares in Credit Suisse rose 5.4% after the lender said it would buy back up to 3 billion Swiss francs (US$3 billion) of senior debt securities. The continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 1.2% but rose by around 1% over the week. The UK FTSE 100 index lost 0.1% on Friday.
US sharemarkets were weaker on Friday after a solid jobs report laid the foundation for more rate hikes. Shares in AMD fell 13.9% as the chipmaker’s third-quarter revenue estimates were about US$1 billion lower than previously forecast. The Dow Jones index ended lower by 630 points or 2.1%. The S&P 500 index fell by 2.8%. And the Nasdaq index lost 421 points or 3.8%. Over the week the Dow added 2%; S&P 500 rose 1.5%; and the Nasdaq gained 0.7%.
US longer-term treasuries fell on Friday (yields higher) in response to the firm jobs report. Interest rate futures are now pricing in a 92% chance of a 75 basis point rate hike by the Federal Reserve in November. US 10-year yields rose by 6 points to 3.89%. And US 2-year yields rose by 6 points to near 4.31%. Over the week, US 10-year yields rose by 20 points with US 2-year yields up 11 points.
Major currencies were weaker against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from highs near US$0.9815 to lows near US$0.9725 and was near US$0.9740 at the US close. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US64.25 cents to lows near US63.50 cents and was near US63.68 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen eased from near 144.73 yen per US dollar to JPY145.43 and was near JPY145.33 at the US close.
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Global oil prices rose by near 4% on Friday to 5-week highs, buoyed by a firm US jobs report. Oil prices continued to be supported by the OPEC+ decision to lower their output target by 2 million barrels per day. The OPEC+ cut comes ahead of a European Union embargo on Russian oil. The Brent crude oil price rose by US$3.50 or 3.7% to US$97.92 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude oil price lifted by US$4.19 or 4.7% to US$92.64 a barrel. Over the week, Brent crude rose by US$9.96 or 11.3%. And Nymex crude rose by US$13.15 or 16.5%.
Base metal prices were weaker on the London Metal Exchange on Friday, falling by 1.3-4.2%. The exception was lead, up by 1.7% Over the week, metals were mixed. Lead rose 10.7%, aluminium rose by 6.8% and nickel rose by 6.4%. But tin fell by 5.8%.
The gold futures price fell by US$11.50 an ounce or 0.7% to US$1,709.30 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,695 an ounce at the US close. Over the week gold rose by US$37.30 an ounce or 2.2%. Iron ore futures rose by US16 cents or 0.2% to US$95.62 a tonne. Over the week iron ore fell by US$2.69 a tonne or 2.7%.
Originally published by CommSec
