Market Update & Important Indicators:
The S&P 500 slipped Friday but logged its fourth consecutive week of gains. Major U.S. stock indexes edged lower after data showed the labor market lost jobs for the first time in seven years. Still, stocks ended the week near records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.1% to 22,774 and rose 1.7% for the week. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite added less than 0.1%. Economic data in the second half of the year has been largely upbeat, and corporate earnings are still solid, which has helped U.S. stocks climb even as some have expressed concerns about the length of the rally, investors and analysts said. The S&P 500 hit its sixth consecutive closing high Thursday, posting its longest streak of records in 20 years. Overall market reaction was relatively muted after the Labor Department said Friday that nonfarm employment fell by a seasonally adjusted 33,000 in September. The figure missed economists' estimates and marked the first time since September 2010 that the labor market failed to add jobs. But other parts of the report were more encouraging, showing workers' hourly earnings jumping and the unemployment rate falling more than expected. Nascent signs of wage growth could push the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again before the end of the year, some analysts said. The U.S. gold price bounced back on Friday, gaining 0.7% to finish at 1,276.1 US$/oz.
European stocks ended a tumultuous week on a downbeat note, driven lower by continued uncertainty over the political drama in Spain and a mixed reading on the U.S. labor market. The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended 0.4% lower Friday at 389.47, trimming its weekly gain to 0.3%. The Pan-European index flipped in and out of losses for most of the week, buffeted by events in Catalonia, where separatists have vowed to declare the region's independence from Spain.
Stock markets in Asia continued their rise Friday, highlighted by Hong Kong's main index closing at its highest level in a decade and Japan's Nikkei advancing toward levels last seen in 1996. Risk appetite increased globally after market participants interpreted comments from U.S. central bankers as supportive of another interest-rate increase in December. Indexes in Asia Pacific largely recorded modest advances Friday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.3% to a 10-year closing high, and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average also rose 0.3%, hitting a two-year best. Trading was quiet over the week with China and South Korea offline–the latter will remain closed on Monday. But Chinese stocks are poised to surge at the start of the week, catching up with what peers–especially Hong Kong–have seen in the past week.
Australian shares recovered strongly from three days of selling, as major banks and resources firms drove broad gains to help the local market outperform much of the region. Ending at the session high, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1%, to 5710.7, for a gain over the week of 0.5%. The four biggest banks collectively added about 17 points to the index's gains. The day's rebound keeps the index in its narrow range for a 21st straight week.
The London Metal Exchange’s 3-month copper contract traded lower on Friday, losing 0.63% to finish at $6,617/t. The other base metals finished mainly lower. Aluminium prices fell 0.8% to 2,131/t, whilst zinc prices shed 1.7% at 3,298/t. Tin prices lost 2.2% finishing at 20,660/t whilst lead prices dropped 2.6% at 2,517/t. Nickel prices bucked the trend rising 0.6% at 10,515/t.
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