Asia Morning July 3

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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

Asia Morning: U.S. Stocks Buoyed by Upbeat Jobs Report

On Thursday, U.S. stocks advanced further, boosted by a better-than-expected June jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average once surged 493 points before closing with a gain of 92 points (+0.36%) at 25827. The S&P 500 climbed 14 points (+0.45%) to 3130, and the Nasdaq 100 was up 62 points (+0.61%) to 10341, another record close.


Nasdaq 100 Index: Daily Chart


Source: GAIN Capital, TradingView


Materials (+1.85%), Automobiles & Components (+1.46%) and Energy (+1.13%) sectors performed the best. Noble Energy Inc (NBL +7.79%), Akamai Technologies (AKAM +6.39%) and TechnipFMC (FTI +5.35%) were top gainers. Meanwhile, Carnival Corp (CCL -2.93%), Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH -2.74%) and American Airlines (AAL -2.42%) lost the most.

On the technical side, about 41.3% (42.3% in the prior session) of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average, and 32.3% (31.7% in the prior session) were trading above their 20-day moving average.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of Nonfarm Payrolls soared 4.800 million on month in June (+3.230 million expected) and the Jobless Rate fell to 11.1% (12.5% expected). Initial Jobless claims declined to 1.427 million for the week ended June 27 (1.350 million expected), while Continuing Claims increased to 19.290 million for the week ending June 20 (19.000 million expected).

U.S. Factory Orders jumped 8.0% on month in May (+8.6% expected), the biggest increase since 2014. May Durable Goods Orders growth was finalized at +15.7% on month (+15.8% expected).

European stocks rebounded strongly. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index jumped 1.97%. Germany's DAX 30 surged 2.84%, France's CAC 40 advanced 2.49%, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 1.34%.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield eased to 0.672% from 0.682% Wednesday.

Spot gold price added $5.00 (+0.3%) to $1,775 an ounce.

Oil prices firmed up as market sentiment remained upbeat. U.S. WTI crude oil futures (August) increased a further 2.1% to $40.65 a barrel.

On the forex front, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index was little changed on day at 97.21, despite a stronger-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report.

EUR/USD marked a day-high of 1.1303 before closing at 1.1237, down 0.1%. The German parliament voted in support of the European Central Bank's bond purchase program. Meanwhile, official data showed that the eurozone's jobless rate edged up to 7.4% in May (7.7% expected) from 7.3% in April.

GBP/USD fell 0.1% to 1.2467, after a two-day rally.

USD/JPY gained 0.1% to 107.53.

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