SHANGHAI, May 8 - This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last Friday night and what is expected today.
The U.S. dollar jumped on Friday after data showed that U.S. employers added more jobs than expected in April, while wages also grew more than economists’ anticipated.
Employers added 253,000 jobs, above economists’ forecasts for a 180,000 gain. U.S. average hourly earnings rose at an annual rate of 4.4%, above expectations for a 4.2% increase.
The dollar index hit a session high of 101.72 and the euro fell to $1.0971. The dollar also jumped to 135.11 against the Japanese yen.
U.S. stock futures were flat on Sunday evening.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 10 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were flat.
Stocks are coming off a volatile week that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 notch their worst weekly stretches since March. The losses came despite a late-week rally that saw volatile regional bank stocks jump off their lows.
The Dow on Friday added more than 546 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite popped 1.85% and 2.25% respectively. The gains came even after a stronger-than-expected April jobs report.
On the inflation front, investor attention this week turns to April’s consumer price index due out Wednesday, followed by the producer price index on Thursday.
Oil prices rose on Friday but fell for the third straight week after a sharp fall earlier this week ahead of benchmark interest rate rises and on concern that the U.S. banking crisis will slow the economy and sap fuel demand.
Brent crude closed $2.80, or 3.9% higher, at $75.30 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate settled up $2.78, or 4.1%, at $71.34 after four days of declines that sent the contract to lows last seen in late 2021.
Gold beat a fast retreat on Friday after stronger-than-expected U.S. payrolls data tempered expectations of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
Spot gold lost 1.7% to $2,015.33 per ounce by 1:40 p.m. EDT (1740 GMT), but was up 1.3% for the week after surging to $2,072.19 on Thursday, just shy of its record high of $2,072.49, following the Fed’s hint that its hiking cycle may be ending.
European markets closed higher on Friday as investors continued to assess the trajectory of monetary policy and await a fresh round of economic data.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up 1.1%, with banking and oil and gas stocks leading gains as the majority of sectors and major bourses ended the session in positive territory. Food and beverage stocks were the sole outlier of the day, closing down 0.1%.