Asia Morning August 10

Asia Morning: U.S. Stocks Mixed Despite Upbeat Jobs Report

On Friday, U.S. stocks closed mixed despite a better-than-expected jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 46 points (+0.17%) to 27433, and the S&P 500 added 2 points to 3351, while the Nasdaq 100 fell 127 points (-1.13%) to 11139.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: Daily Chart

Source: GAIN Capital, TradingView

U.S. official data showed that the labor market continued to improve in July despite a surge in coronavirus cases. Nonfarm Payrolls increased by 1.76 million, higher than an addition of 1.48 million expected, and the jobless rate fell to 10.2% (10.6% expected).

However, market sentiment remained muted amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a ban on "transactions" with the Chinese owners of the consumer apps TikTok and WeChat, effectively banning both apps in the U.S.

Transportation (+3.01%), Banks (+2.63%) and Insurance (+2.17%) sectors traded higher while Technology Hardware & Equipment (-2.02%), Software & Services (-1.43%) and Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment (-1.14%) sectors were under pressure.

Biogen (BIIB +10.1%), United Parcel Service (UPS +7.86%) and FedEx (FDX +6.55%) were among the top gainers.

European stocks were modestly higher. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.29%, Germany's DAX 30 climbed 0.66%, and both France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.1%.

U.S. government bond prices came under pressure, as the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rebounded to 0.562% from 0.535% Thursday.

Spot gold price took a breather sliding $31.00 (-1.5%) to $2,034 an ounce. Spot silver price lost 2.0% to $28.33 an ounce.

U.S. WTI crude oil futures (September) sank a further 1.7% to $41.22 a barrel.

On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive actions to extend economic aids to Americans affected by the coronavirus pandemic after negotiations at Congress broke down. The aids include jobless benefits at 400 dollars per week.

On the forex front, the U.S. dollar strengthened against its major peers, lifted by stronger-than-expected jobs report. The ICE Dollar Index rebounded 0.7% on day to 93.43, halting a three-day decline.

EUR/USD slid 0.8% to 1.1788, snapping a three-day winning streak.

GBP/USD dropped 0.7% to 1.3053.

USD/JPY bounced 0.4% to 105.93.

USD/CAD advanced 0.6% to 1.3384. Official data showed that the Canadian economy added 418,500 jobs in July (+380,000 jobs expected), while jobless rate fell to 10.9% (11.0% expected) from 12.3% in June. Later today. housing starts for July will be reported (an annualized rate of 205,000 units expected).

Other commodity-linked currencies were broadly lower against the greenback. AUD/USD sank 1.1% to 0.7158 and NZD/USD tumbled 1.3% to 0.6604.

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