Now, investors are looking toward Friday’s release of September’s nonfarm payrolls data
Wall Street equities gained on Wednesday to turn positive after recent losses as risk aversion abated. The Dow Jones added 0.39% after a three-day losing streak, the S&P 500 advanced 0.81%, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.35%. A bounce in stocks was triggered by a pullback in Treasury yields from long-term peaks after weak economic data. ADP said just 89,000 private payrolls were added last month, well below a forecast of 160,000. Additionally, the ISM Services PMI declined to 53.6 from 54.5 in August. Now, investors are looking toward Friday’s release of September’s nonfarm payrolls data.
Asian stocks mostly rose on Thursday, buoyed by a recovery on Wall Street that was also triggered by a plunge in oil prices. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.69%, Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 0.33% even as the data showed that Hong Kong’s private sector contracted for the third consecutive month in September. Bucking the trend, South Korea’s Kospi gave up nearly 0.1%. Chinese markets were closed for a holiday.
In Europe, stocks opened higher following a bounce in the US markets. The Stoxx 600 index was up by 0.3% in early deals, trading in positive territory after three days of losses. The bounce is mostly due to the fact that Treasury yields gave back some ground after rallying to fresh multi-year highs earlier in the week. On the data front, Germany’s September construction PMI came in at 39.3 versus 41.5 in the previous month.
Meanwhile, the dollar pulled back from an 11-month high as risk sentiment has improved. The USD index has been under pressure for the third session in a row on Thursday, flirting with the 106.50 support zone that could trigger a bounce if withstands the current pressure. Still, the greenback stays positive on the weekly charts for the 12th week in a row. Should the DXY manage to hold above the 106.00 mark in the near term, a bounce towards 107.00 could be expected. Ahead of the weekend, the dollar would be affected by US NFP employment data that could hurt the currency if jobs numbers disappoint.
