Asia Morning Sep 7

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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

Asia Morning: US Stock Markets Extend Decline

On Friday, U.S. stocks closed lower again, though pared some early losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 159 points (-0.6%) to 28133, S&P 500 dropped 28 points (-0.8%) to 3426 and Nasdaq 100 lost 149 points (-1.3%) to 11622. Software & Services (-2.25%), Media (-2.23%) and Retailing (-1.8%) sectors led the decline.

Dow Jones Industrial Average daily chart:

Source: Gain Capital, TradingView

The VIX Index, a measure of expected volatility, marked a day high of 38.28 before ending 8.5% lower to 30.75. Approximately 64.2% of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average and 51.9% were trading above their 20-day moving average.


Regarding U.S. economic data, non-farm payrolls increased 1.37 million in August (+1.35 million expected), while jobless rate dropped to 8.4% (9.8% expected) from 10.2% in July.

Today, U.S. stock markets are closed to observe the Labor Day.

European stocks were broadly lower. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 1.3%, Germany's DAX 30 sank 1.7%, France's CAC 40 and U.K.'s FTSE 100 were down 0.9%.

The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield jumped to 0.7180% from 0.6347% Thursday, snapping a five-day decline.

WTI crude oil futures (October) plunged 3.8% to $39.77 a barrel. The total number of rotary rigs in the U.S. rose to 256 as of September 4 from 254 in the prior week, according to Baker Hughes.

Spot gold edged up 0.2% to $1,933 an ounce.
On the forex front, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index climbed 0.2% on day to 92.97, lifted by a solid non-farm payrolls report.

EUR/USD slipped 0.1% to 1.1838. Official data showed that German factory orders grew 2.8% on month in July (+5.0% expected). Later today, German industrial production for July will be released (+4.5% on month expected).

GBP/USD was little changed at 1.3276. The Markit U.K. Construction PMI slid to 54.6 in August (58.3 expected) from 58.1 in July.

USD/JPY gained 0.1% to 106.25.

USD/CAD dropped 0.5% to 1.3060. Government data showed that the Canadian economy added 245,800 jobs in August (+250,000 jobs expected), while jobless rate fell to 10.2% (as expected) from 10.9% in July.

Meanwhile, AUD/USD edged up 0.1% to 0.7282. Australia's retail sales grew 3.2% on month in July (+3.3% expected), according to the government.
Related tags: Indices Commodities Forex

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