Stocks Slide As Oil Price Fears, U.S. Jobs Data Rattle Markets
NEW YORK/LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) – stocks sank on friday US-Israel war against Iran While an unexpected U.S. job loss in February raised hopes for a Fed rate cut, it did little to cheer up investors worried about economic weakness.
Trading in currencies and U.S. Treasuries was choppy as investors digested a report from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. non-farm payrolls There were 92,000 jobs lost last month, versus economists’ forecasts for growth of 59,000.
February’s losses contrast with January’s downwardly revised increase of 126,000. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 4.3% in January.
“We saw a negative momentum” stocks “The geopolitical environment in recent days and concerns about the resurgence in inflation and the rise in oil prices,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
“Today you’re looking at news of an unexpectedly soft labor market report for February. Investors are recalibrating their expectations, just stocks But what will this mean for the Fed?”
Open Wall Street As of 10:51 (1551 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 623.30 points (1.30 percent) to 47,331.44 points, the S&P 500 index was down 88.56 points (1.30 percent) to 6,742.15 points and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 264.65 points (1.17 percent). It decreased to 47,331.44 points. 22,482.20.
MSCI indicator stocks Globally, it fell 11.01 points, or 1.07%, to 1,017.12 points, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 1.31%.
Israel struck the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday after ordering an unprecedented evacuation of the city’s entire southern suburbs in a major extension of the Middle East war. US President Donald Trump He demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender”demands increased dramatically within a week The war started by Israel.
Qatar Minister of Energy he told the Financial Times The country expects all Gulf energy producers to halt exports within weeks and oil prices to rise as high as $150 a barrel, he said in an interview published Friday.
With this, crude oil It had rebounded sharply and was poised for its strongest weekly gain since the extreme volatility of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, as war halted shipping and energy exports through critically important countries. Strait of Hormuz.
US crude oil rose 9.86% to $88.97 per barrel after hitting its highest levels since October 2023, while Brent rose 6.71% to $91.14 per barrel on the day after touching its highest price since April 2024.
Inside currenciesThe dollar pared earlier gains against major currencies after a weak jobs report raised the possibility that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates sooner than expected.
Traders are betting the Fed’s first rate cut will come in July, but the odds of it remaining unchanged in June fell to 47.2% from 66.7% on Thursday. CBOE’s FedWatch tool.
“The Fed finds itself in a tough spot. Inflation is still high, and now with oil prices rising, that’s going to put even more upward pressure there. At the same time, you’re seeing the economy lose some momentum. There’s clearly widespread uncertainty on a number of fronts, both policy and geopolitically related,” Baird said.
The dollar index, which measures the dollar’s value against a range of currencies including the yen and euro, rose 0.13% to 99.18, while the euro fell 0.3% to $1.1572.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose 0.01% to 157.59.
In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin fell by 3.80% to $68,441.79. Ethereum fell 5.28% to $1,970.66.
Inside government bondThe benchmark US 10-year bond yield decreased by 0.8 basis points to 4.138% from 4.146% at the end of Thursday, while the 30-year bond yield increased by 2.2 basis points to 4.7745%.
The yield on the 2-year bond, which generally moves in line with the Fed’s interest rate expectations, fell 5.7 basis points to 3.542% from 3.599% late Thursday.
Gold It rose on Friday after weaker US jobs data kept rate cut hopes alive, but a stronger dollar capped gains and left the precious metal on track for its first weekly decline in five weeks.
Spot gold rose 1.28 percent to $5,141.60 per ounce. US gold futures rose 0.75 percent to $5,103.40 per ounce.
(Reporting by Sinéad Carew, Harry Robertson; Editing by Kate Mayberry, Alex Richardson, Jan Harvey and Nia Williams)
