Equities retreat after strong US jobs report - 6.2.2023

The Dollar strengthening is intact currently. The live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, jumped 0.8% Friday as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the US economy added 517,000 jobs in January, much higher than the 185,000 anticipated by Wall Street analysts.

Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD accelerated their retreating on Friday. Both Pound and euro are lower against the Dollar currently. USD/JPY reversed its retreating and AUD/USD accelerated its sliding Friday with the yen lower still against the Greenback currently and the Australian dollar higher.

US stocks are edging lower currently after closing lower on Friday as the strong January nonfarm payrolls report spurred views the Federal Reserve may keep raising interest rates longer than previously believed. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded daily losses ranging from 0.4% to 1.6% on Friday while the SP 500 gained for the second straight week.

European stock indexes futures are down currently after stocks closed higher on Friday. Asian indexes futures are lower today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index leading losses amid fears of worsening Sino-US relations after the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the US east coast.

Brent is edging higher currently as the International Energy Agency reiterated its forecast on recovery in Chinese demand. Prices ended lower on Friday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures settled down 3.3% but is higher currently. Brent lost 2.7% to $79.94. Brent fell 7.8% from last week's settlement while the US benchmark WTI recorded a 7.9% loss.