Global Markets Today: Following the release of data on US job growth, which supported the idea that the US Federal Reserve may be done raising interest rates, global markets saw a rise on Friday despite declining US dollar and treasury yields.
MSCI’s global stock index increased by 1.18%. The MSCI index saw a weekly percentage increase of 5.3%, which was also the highest since November 2022.
Asian Markets
Among Asian markets, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong increased by 2.52% to 17,664.12, while the Nikkei 225 in Japan gained 1.10% to 31,949.89. The Shanghai Composite of China increased by 0.71% to 3,030.80.
US jobs data
The US labor market appears to be loosening as October saw a slowdown in job growth and the lowest annual wage increase in almost two and a half years.
The unemployment rate increased to 3.9% last month—the highest since January 2022—from 3.8 in September, according to the Labor Department’s closely followed employment report released on Friday, according to Reuters.
According to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, nonfarm payrolls rose by 150,000 jobs last month, following a 297,000 job increase in September. Payrolls were predicted to increase by 180,000 by economists surveyed by Reuters.
Europe.
On Friday, European stocks finished in a mixed bag. The STOXX 600 index for Europe increased by 0.17%.
Germany’s DAX increased by 0.30% to 15,189.25, while the FTSE 100 in Britain decreased by 0.39% to 7,417.73. The CAC 40 of France fell 0.19% to 7,047.50.
Money markets and Treasury yields
On Friday, benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields dropped to five-week lows and the US dollar dropped to a six-week low.
The euro increased 1.07% to $1.0734 while the dollar index dropped 1.111%. The Japanese yen gained 0.72% versus the US dollar to trade at 149.31 per dollar, while the value of sterling increased by 1.46% to $1.2379.
The 10-year benchmark yield dropped to 4.484%, the lowest level since September 26. According to Reuters, the yield on a two-year note hit 4.807%, the lowest level since September 1.
Energy Costs
After a more than 2% decline, the premium for geopolitical risk in crude oil prices decreased.
US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.36% to settle at $80.51 per barrel, while Brent crude fell 2.26% to $84.89 a barrel.
Wall Street
The US stock market indexes concluded the week higher, and bond yields plummeted following data indicating a slowdown in the country’s job growth and an increase in the unemployment rate.
The S&P 500 gained 40.56 points, or 0.94%, to 4,358.34, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 222.24 points, or 0.66%, to 34,061.32. At 13,478.28, the Nasdaq Composite closed 184.09 points, or 1.38%, higher.
The Nasdaq increased 6.6% and the S&P 500 gained 5.9% for the week, marking their largest gains since November 2022. The Dow experienced its largest weekly jump since late October 2022, rising 5.1%.
The US Treasury yields fell for the fourth straight session as the jobs report stoked expectations that the US Federal Reserve was finished raising interest rates. During the session, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell to its lowest point in more than five weeks.
Apple’s stock decreased by 0.5%, Block’s increased by 10.7%, and Fortinet’s decreased by 12.4%.
