Wall Street ended a volatile trading session mixed on Thursday as investors repositioned ahead of today's key labour report. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones dipped 0.30% and 0.50%, respectively, while the Nasdaq 100 posted slight gains after initially climbing over 1%. Market movements were driven by new labour market data, which sent mixed signals about the health of the US economy. Private payrolls in August grew by just 99 000, the lowest since January 2021 and well below expectations. On the other hand, weekly unemployment claims dropped, providing some optimism. The conflicting data, including fewer job openings, fuelled concerns about a possible recession and the Federal Reserve’s stance on rate cuts.
European stocks declined for a third consecutive session on Thursday, continuing the heavy sell-off seen earlier in the week as traders exited riskier positions ahead of today’s uncertain US jobs report. The pan-European STOXX 50 dropped 0.60%, closing at 4 821, while the STOXX 600 slipped 0.40% to finish at 512. Both indices were hit by losses during afternoon trading, influenced by a series of downbeat US economic reports, including signs of a weakening labour market from the ADP and Challenger job cuts data.
The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.14% to close at 2 788 points, and the Shenzhen Component increased 0.28% to 8 250 on Thursday, recovering some of the previous session’s losses as risk sentiment somewhat improved. Investors remained focused on evaluating China’s economic and policy outlooks. Recent data indicated weakening activity in the country's manufacturing and services sectors, fuelling hopes for further policy easing to boost growth. Attention now shifts to next week’s Chinese inflation and trade data for deeper insights into the health of the world's second-largest economy. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.30% to below 36 550 points while the broader Topix Index dropped 0.50% to 2 607, with Japanese shares sliding for the second straight session as a rallying yen continued to pressure domestic equities.
The FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI) index edged up slightly to close at 82 147 on Thursday, as traders balanced stronger-than-expected data on US services activity with inconsistent employment reports. Business Day added that “the rand held steady, touching an intraday best of R17.68/$ as hopes of a larger Fed rate cut saw risk sentiment towards emerging-market currencies improve and the dollar retreat.” At 19h00, the rand had strengthened 0.75% to R17.72/$, 0.54% to R19.66/€ and 0.55% to R23.33/£.
Oil prices inched higher after previously hitting multi-month lows, as major producers considered postponing an output increase scheduled for October while US inventories declined. However, gains were capped by ongoing concerns about demand. Brent crude futures rose by 15 cents, or 0.10%, to $72.85 at 19h00, after falling 1.40% in the previous session, marking their lowest close since 27 June 2023. Gold prices remained unchanged on Thursday as investors stayed cautious ahead of the upcoming US payrolls data, which could offer more insight into the potential size of an anticipated rate cut this month. Spot gold held steady at $2 494.73/oz at 19h10, while US gold futures dipped 0.10% to $2 524.90.
