Equities rise after dismal US jobs report likley to prolong low US interest rates

The worse-than-expected US nonfarm payrolls report on Friday increases the likelihood that the US Fed will hold off increasing interest rates, which will prolong the era of cheap money. That ought to boost stocks, as was the case on Friday: in New York, the S&P 500 fell on the announcement but the benchmark US index eventually ended the day 1.4 per cent higher. Meanwhile the pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended Friday 0.5 per cent higher.

Major markets across Asia Pacific were also in advance mode on Monday morning. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.8 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.5 per cent. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 was up 1.9 per cent. Chinese markets are closed until Thursday for the Golden Week holiday.

The best-performing Asian currencies in the morning session were the South Korean won, up 0.6 per cent, the Taiwanese dollar, up 0.6 per cent, and the New Zealand dollar, up 0.5 per cent.

Oil prices extended gains, with Brent crude up 0.3 per cent at $48.27 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate up 0.3 per cent at $45.66. Copper was 0.8 per cent stronger at $2.34 a pound.

The dollar index, a measure of the US currency against a basket of global peers, was flat at 95.858 in Asia this morning after falling 0.4 per cent on Friday. Gold was down 0.1 per cent at $1,137.51 an ounce today after a 2.3 per cent jump in the previous session.

In morning trade, only the Japanese yen and the Thai baht were weaker against the greenback, with the baht down 0.14 per cent, and the yen 0.03 per cent weaker at Y119.95 to the dollar.

The post Equities rise after dismal US jobs report likley to prolong low US interest rates appeared first on Forex Circles.

Source:: Equities rise after dismal US jobs report likley to prolong low US interest rates