CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - An unexpected decline in the U.S. non-farm payrolls in July dramatically dragged down rate hike expectations from the Federal Reserve, boosting overall market sentiment.
Data for July released on Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a decline of 23 thousand in non-farm payrolls, versus a downwardly revised addition of 20 thousand in June. The unemployment rate, which was anticipated to remain steady at 4.2 percent also unexpectedly declined to 4.1 percent.
Rate hike expectations faded as markets digested the weak jobs data. The CME FedWatch tool that tracks the expectations of interest rate traders currently shows the likelihood of a Fed rate hike in September at 44 percent. It was 55 percent a day ago and 67 percent a week ago.
Wall Street Futures are trading slightly above the flatline as markets trim expectations of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Major benchmarks in Europe are trading in strongly positive territory. Earlier in the day, major Asian markets had finished trading on a mixed note.
The six-currency Dollar Index has plunged almost half a percent. Sovereign bond yields too eased across most economies.
Crude oil prices are trading around a percent below the flatline as Iran and Oman progressed towards a framework for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Fading rate hike expectations from the Fed have lifted gold more than 2 percent higher. Cryptocurrencies are trading on a mixed note.
Here is a snapshot of the major world markets at this hour.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 53,982.90, up 0.18% S&P 500 (US500) at 7,735.60, up 0.33% Germany's DAX at 26,382.02, up 0.83% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 10,931.15, up 0.58% France's CAC 40 at 8,737.11, up 0.43% Euro Stoxx 50 at 6,545.95, up 0.67% Japan's Nikkei 225 at 65,606.71, down 0.12% Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 9,263.60, down 0.09% China's Shanghai Composite at 3,940.04, up 1.02% Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 25,668.03, up 0.54% South Korea's KOSPI at 6,258.77, down 0.60%
Currencies:
Dollar Index at 99.51, down 0.42% EUR/USD at 1.1570, up 0.40% GBP/USD at 1.3498, up 0.30% USD/JPY at 157.36, down 0.68% USD/CHF at 0.8072, down 0.64% AUD/USD at 0.7067, up 0.51%
Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 4.620%, down 1.07% Germany at 3.1229%, down 0.10% France at 3.908%, down 0.20% U.K. at 4.9169%, down 0.49% Japan at 2.795%, up 0.94%
Commodities:
Brent Oil Futures (Oct) at $81.69, down 0.97% Crude Oil WTI Futures (Sep) at $76.75, down 0.70% Gold Futures (Dec) at $4,412.76, up 2.63% Silver Futures (Sep) at $64.62, up 4.90%
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $65,171.75, up 1.28% Ethereum at $1,929.28, up 1.68% BNB at $592.40, down 0.01% XRP at $1.03, down 0.82% Solana at $73.85, up 1.03%
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