Global stocks mostly lower following hotter-than-expected US jobs report

World stocks were mostly lower on Monday after a US jobs report released Friday came in hotter than expected, while the euro fell after French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly following a setback in Sunday’s parliamentary election.

Far-right parties made major gains in parliamentary elections Sunday, leading French President Emmanuel Macron to call a snap election. This caused the euro to drop to its lowest price in nearly a month. The euro was trading at $1.0766, down from $1.0778.

The setbacks for incumbent parties cast a shadow across the region. The CAC 40 in Paris sank 1.7 per cent to 7,866.87 and Germany’s DAX lost 0.7 per cent to 18,425.26. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.4 per cent to 8,215.84 in early trading.

The future for the S&P 500 shed 0.1 per cent and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 per cent.

Markets in Asia ended mixed. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.9 per cent to 39,038.16 after government data on Monday showed Japan’s economy contracted at an annualized 1.8 per cent pace in January-March, an upward revision from the previously announced 2 per cent drop.

South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.8 per cent to 2,701.17.

Markets in China, Hong Kong, Australia and Taiwan were closed for holidays.

On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 0.1 per cent and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2 per cent. The Dow slipped 0.2 per cent.

US employers added 272,000 jobs in May, up from April and more than economists expected. The report also showed the unemployment rate rising for a second straight month. Overall, that signals continued strength in the jobs market, with some minor signs of weakening. The strong jobs market has supported consumer spending and the broader economy, but it has also been complicating the Federal Reserve’s path ahead for interest rates.

“”We are back to the starting point where the Fed could hardly justify a rate cut when jobs data remains strong and inflation is not easing as fast as it should,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said in a commentary.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 4.43 per cent from 4.29 per cent just before the jobs report was released. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, jumped to 4.89 per cent from 4.74 per cent prior to the report’s release.

Economic data from last week hinted that the economy could be cooling. The latest reports show that manufacturing contracted in May, worker productivity isn’t as strong as economists thought and job openings are dropping.

Fed officials are expected to hold interest rates steady at their meeting later in this week. After the jobs report came out, investors took even more bets off the table that the Fed would cut rates at its July meeting, according to data from CME Group.

Wall Street has also been monitoring earnings from retailers, which have shown that customers have been pulling back on items that aren’t essentials. Consumer spending has been the main support for the economy, but stubborn inflation is hurting consumers, especially those with lower incomes.

GameStop, the troubled video game retailer at the center of the meme stock craze, slumped 39.4 per cent after reporting another quarterly loss and saying it planned to sell up to 75 million more shares.

In other dealings, US benchmark crude oil shed 18 cents to $75.35 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 11 cents at $79.51 per barrel.

The US dollar rose to 156.86 Japanese yen from 156.83 yen.

First Published: Jun 10 2024 | 3:48 PM IST