Market Outlook 🚀 - Oil prices in three-week winning streak

US jobs market weakening

Inside.com Part of   Network April 10, 2023

US Markets The S&P 500 rose over the weekend after a strong jobs report.  The New York Stock Exchange was closed on Friday, but futures and bond trading continued into Friday morning.  In response to the jobs report, the 2 Year U.S. Treasury Yield was up 17 points on Friday.  The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 3.30700% Dow Jones  33,485.29 0.01% S&P 500  4,105.02 0.36% Nasdaq  12,087.96 0.76% Russell 2000 1,754.46 0.13% *Stock Market data as of the last closing bell. Data received directly from the reference indexes through ICE Data Services. Do you not understand any of these figures? Check out our explainer.

What the numbers say: Average hourly earnings in the U.S. were up 0.3% from February to March. This brings the 12-month increase in wages to 4.2%, the lowest since June 2021.  Relevance: With inflation still significantly above the Federal Reserve's 2% interest rate target, the low increase in average wages means that families will have less disposable income.  Importance: These figures suggest that the Federal Reserve's plan to cool the economy through higher interest rates is working, decreasing the chances of another interest rate hike at the next Fed meeting on May 2-3.

Canadian Markets The Canadian economy added 35,000 new jobs in March.  The growth is attributed to a rising population creating more demand for jobs despite higher interest rates.  The unemployment rate has been at a near-record low of 5% for four consecutive months.  The population grew by 0.3% in March while employment was up 0.2%.  TSX  20,196.69 0.18% *Canadian stock prices are as of the last close. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services

European Markets European stocks rose on Thursday ahead of the Easter weekend.  Following a 0.5% rise on Thursday, the Stoxx 600 finished the week up 0.25%.  Banking was the best-performing sector, gaining 1.8%, while travel and leisure stocks rose 1.4%.  Household goods and retail dragged down markets, falling 1.3% and 0.5%, respectively. Euro STOXX 50  4,309.45 0.26% UK (FTSE 100)  7,741.56 1.03% Germany (DAX)  15,597.89 0.50% France (CAC 40) 7,324.75 0.12% *European stock prices are as of 7 am ET. Data received directly from the reference indexes through ICE Data Services.

Asian Markets Stocks in Asia rose slightly on Friday as European and North American markets were closed for Easter.  Markets in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India were all closed.  The Bank of Korea is expected to keep its interest rates at 3.5% following its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday.  Asian banks took a beating in Q1, with the market capitalization of over 2/3rds of the top 20 banks decreasing.  S&P Asia 50 4,742.12 -0.05% Japan (Nikkei 225) 27,518.31 0.17% South Korea (KOSPI) 2,490.41 1.27% China (Hang Seng) 20,277.01 0.01% India (SENSEX) 59,832.97 0.24% *Asian stock prices are as of 7 am ET. Data received directly from the reference indexes through ICE Data Services.

Commodities Despite falling on Thursday, oil prices have now seen gains for three consecutive weeks. Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate both lost 0.2% on Thursday. The two benchmarks gained around 6% last week.  Investors believe that a weakening U.S. job market could prevent prices from continuing to rise.  Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL) 30.58 0.30% Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) 186.49 -0.71% Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) 22.89 -0.22% Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN) 24.74 -0.72% Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD) 70.99 0.25% *Commodity prices are as of 7 am ET. Data from MarketWatch. To understand why investors track the prices of these commodities, click here.

Currency Exchange Rates The U.S. Dollar fell amid limited trading on Thursday as many investors held their positions. The U.S. and EU stock markets, as well as some Asian markets, were closed on Friday, which contributed to the decline in trading volumes.  The weakening job market in the U.S. provides a reason for the Federal Reserve to stop aggressively raising interest rates to deflate the economy.  Risk-sensitive currencies like the New Zealand and Australian dollars were down ahead of the long weekend.  UK(GBP) £0.81 0.13% Europe (EURO) €0.91 -0.70% Canada (Canadian Dollar) $1.36 0.45% Japan (Yen) ¥132.15 0.33% *Exchange rates as of 7 am ET. Data from Morningstar Financial Research. To understand why we track these currencies and the differences between them, click here.

Liam Gill is a lawyer who raised $250k with just an idea and turned it into a $35M tech startup.  He now teaches entrepreneurs how to Pitch, Negotiate and Strategize so they can do the same.  Let's Connect Editor Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade.

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