Asian Stocks Rise as Weak US Jobs Fuel Fed Bets
Asian equities climbed with Wall Street after weak US job openings data reinforced bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut.
Shares in Japan, Australia and South Korea gained at the open. Equity-index futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 edged higher after both gauges advanced. Australian bonds tracked Wednesday’s moves in Treasuries, with yields on the 10-year declining almost five basis points to 4.37%. Oil dipped, while gold steadied.
With job openings falling to a 10-month low, traders are now almost fully pricing in a September Fed cut and projecting at least two reductions this year. The shift lifted equities, snapping a two-day losing streak for US stocks, and supported Treasuries a day before a pivotal US payrolls report.
The data is “another sign that the labour market is slowing down,” wrote Kyle Rodda, a senior market analyst at Capital.com in Melbourne. “The dynamic boosts the case for rate cuts.”
Economists project about 75,000 jobs were added in August, based on the median of a Bloomberg survey, while the jobless rate is seen at 4.3%. Four straight months of sub-100,000 payrolls growth would mark the weakest such stretch since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
Source: Bloomberg
