Friday night saw the release of the latest US unemployment print – aka non-farm payrolls – with a surprise drop in the headline rate sending the USD higher against the majors and Wall Street rallying on the news. The Australian dollar retraced below the 66 cent level with Euro also continuing its week long tumble.
US Treasury yields saw a lift across the curve as 10 year Treasuries gained more than 10 points to the 4.2% level while oil prices again stumbled with increased recent volatility pushing Brent crude below the $72USD per barrel level. Gold’s recent blowout has now been completely reversed with the shiny metal losing another $20USD to finish the week just above the $2000USD per ounce level.
Looking at share markets in Asia from Friday’s session where mainland Chinese share markets gave up most of their gains going into near the close with the Shanghai Composite up just 0.2% to 2969 points while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index also put in a scratch session as it remains in deep trouble, closing at 16334 points.
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