Global shares in red after US jobs data, Trump's tariff salvo
Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures were down about 1% after the data, broadly in line with where they were before the release.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX), opens new tab fell 1.4%, taking its weekly fall to about 2% and putting it on track for its biggest weekly drop since Trump announced his first major wave of tariffs on April 2.
The U.S. economy added 73,000 nonfarm payrolls last month, below expectations for 110,000 in a Reuters survey of economists. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%.
"There's no way to pretty-up this report," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.
"Last year the Fed messed up by not cutting in July so they did a catch-up cut at their next meeting. They'll likely have to do the same thing this year."
Money market traders added to bets for a rate cut from the Fed at its September meeting. Markets imply around a 90% chance of a rate cut next month, compared with about 45% before the jobs data, according to LSEG data.
The softer labour market figures arrived a day after Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs ranging from 10% to 41% on U.S. imports from several major trading partners. Rates were set at 25% for India's U.S.-bound exports, 20% for Taiwan's, 19% for Thailand's and 15% for South Korea's.
He also increased duties on Canadian goods to 35% from 25% for all products not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, but gave Mexico a 90-day reprieve from higher tariffs to negotiate a broader trade deal.
"The August 1 announcement on reciprocal tariffs is somewhat worse than expected," said Wei Yao, research head and chief economist in Asia at Société Générale.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab fell 1.5%, bringing the total loss this week to roughly 2.7%.
Japan's Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab closed 0.7% lower, Chinese blue chips (.CSI300), opens new tab ended 0.5% down and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index (.HIS), opens new tab lost more than 1%.
The U.S. dollar had earlier found support from fading prospects of imminent U.S. rate cuts, but reversed course after the data. The dollar index , which measures the currency against six others, was last down 1% on the day.
The yen had weakened past 150 per dollar for the first time since April but strengthened to 148.71 per dollar after the data. The Bank of Japan held interest rates steady on Thursday and revised up its near-term inflation expectations, but Governor Kazuo Ueda sounded a little dovish in the press conference.
Two-year Treasury yields , which are sensitive to changes in interest rate expectations, dropped 17.5 basis points to 3.7761%. Benchmark 10-year yields slipped 9 basis points to 4.273%.
In commodity markets, oil prices continued to fall after a 1% plunge on Thursday. Brent dipped 0.3% to $71.55 per barrel, while U.S. crude fell 0.1% to $69.22 per barrel.
Spot gold rose 1.3% to $3,332 an ounce.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
29 minutes ago
- Reuters
White House to target banks as Trump claims discrimination
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he believes that banks, including JPMorgan (JPM.N), opens new tab and Bank of America (BAC.N), opens new tab, discriminate against him and his supporters, as he prepares to act against banks for allegedly dropping customers for political reasons. Trump also said the country's top two lenders had previously rejected his deposits, ramping up his attack on the industry. "They totally discriminate against, I think, me maybe even more, but they discriminate against many conservatives," he told CNBC in an interview. Trump made the comments when asked about a report by the Wall Street Journal that said he planned to punish banks that discriminated against conservatives, but did not address the order specifically. The executive order instructs regulators to review banks for "politicized or unlawful debanking" practices, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters. It is likely to be announced on Wednesday, an industry source said. "They did discriminate," Trump said of actions taken by JPMorgan after his first term in office. "I had hundreds of millions, I had many, many accounts loaded up with cash ... and they told me, 'I'm sorry sir, we can't have you. You have 20 days to get out.'" Trump's latest criticism adds pressure on America's largest lenders. The order would likely require banks to conduct sweeping reviews of their businesses to comply with regulations. Trump said, without providing evidence, that the banks' refusal to take his deposits indicated that the administration of former President Joe Biden had encouraged regulators to "destroy Trump." Trump said he subsequently tried to deposit funds with BofA and was also refused, and eventually split the cash. "I ended up going to small banks all over the place," he said. "I was putting $10 million here, $10 million there, did $5 million, $10 million, $12 million," he said, without naming the lenders. "I have them all over the place, the craziest thing, and it's lucky I even had them. They were doing me a favour, and that's because the banks discriminated against me very badly, and I was very good to the banks." In a statement, JPMorgan did not address the president's specific claims about his account. "We don't close accounts for political reasons, and we agree with President Trump that regulatory change is desperately needed," JPMorgan said. "We commend the White House for addressing this issue and look forward to working with them to get this right.' BofA also did not address Trump's specific claims. During Biden's administration, regulators were able to scrutinize banks' decisions on the basis of reputational risks, a second source familiar with the matter said. Lenders were under intense scrutiny and pressure to weigh reputational risks when dealing with Trump because of his legal woes, a third source said. JPMorgan continues to have a banking relationship with members of the Trump family that dates back years, and it also banks a number of campaign accounts linked to Trump, the third source said. After Trump took power, the Federal Reserve announced in June it was directing its supervisors to no longer consider reputational risk when examining banks, a metric that had been a focus of industry complaints. The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday that the expected executive order would instruct regulators to investigate whether any financial institutions breach the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, antitrust laws or consumer financial protection laws by dropping customers for political reasons. The order could authorize monetary penalties, consent decrees or other disciplinary measures against violators, according to the draft. The White House had no immediate comment on the reported order. "What the White House is doing is telling the banks not to hide behind regulations to deny loans or banking relationships," said Wells Fargo bank analyst Mike Mayo. "Banks can use their normal underwriting standards and deny services, but not blame regulators or use reputational risk as a justification." BofA said it welcomed the administration's efforts to clarify the policies. "We've provided detailed proposals and will continue to work with the administration and Congress to improve the regulatory framework," the bank said. Trump in January admonished the CEOs of JPMorgan and BofA for denying services to conservatives. At the time, the two banks denied making banking decisions based on politics. Banks have consistently argued that any complaints about "debanking" should be aimed at regulators, as they argue onerous rules and overzealous bank supervisors can discourage them from engaging in certain activities. "The heart of the problem is regulatory overreach and supervisory discretion," the Bank Policy Institute, an industry group, said in a statement. Lenders have held discussions around debanking and weighed scenarios around a potential order, the first source said. Banks are also hopeful the administration may change anti-money laundering laws that they say are outdated and burdensome, the source added.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
One in ten businesses see staff quit over office working demands
Almost one in ten businesses has had staff quit after they were told to stop working from home, research has shown. The research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) found that 9 per cent had lost staff because of a failure to offer remote working. The survey of 583 businesses between April and May also found that 48 per cent expect staff back in the office full-time over the next year. Employers are increasingly turning against working from home in a bid to boost workers' productivity, the BCC said. Some 41 per cent of employers thought remote working made employees less productive. Jane Gratton, the BCC's director of public policy, said the budget had 'ramped up employment costs' and led to businesses looking at how to increase productivity. She said: 'In some cases firms are saying we need to bring people back to the office to reach the levels we want to achieve.' Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has pushed through reforms to workers' rights, which include the right to request flexible working. Under the changes, bosses have to accept flexible working requests except where 'it is not reasonably feasible' and must provide a justification. Ministers have insisted that there are 'real economic benefits' to more flexible working and that the legal right will help productivity and the 'resilience' of staff. • Legal right to work from home will boost productivity, says Labour But experts said Labour's increase in employers' national insurance contributions at the budget in October had prompted more demands from businesses for in-person working. According to the BCC, manufacturers and customer-facing companies have consistently preferred staff in their premises rather than at homes and are particularly likely to think remote working is bad for their business. Gratton said: 'We're seeing a clear shift towards more firms requiring full onsite working, but it's by no means a uniform picture.' She said some companies had found that fully remote jobs were bad for the business and the employee, with less chance to share ideas and less oversight of how employees are coping under pressure. She also said that companies worried about employee development without young workers shadowing on-site senior colleagues. But not all companies favour a return to strict working rules, with many saying they remained open to flexible arrangements that were not fully remote, such as altered working hours or job shares. Gratton said: 'The pandemic reset how and where people worked, and employment models adjusted. It's taken time for businesses to assess the impact of those working patterns.' A government spokesman said: 'Flexible working can help people achieve a better work life balance, which can lead to healthier and more productive employees, and that's why we've committed to this through our Employment Rights Bill. 'Flexible working extends beyond just home and hybrid working arrangements. It is down to businesses and the employee to determine working arrangements that suit their respective needs.' In 2023 a similar survey found that less than 30 per cent of businesses expected their workforce to be in the office full-time over the next five years.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
North Carolina residents can now seek state aid after Tropical Storm Chantal
Individuals in central North Carolina counties whose homes and belongings were damaged by massive rains last month from Tropical Storm Chantal can now seek state-funded financial grants for temporary assistance. The aid for residents in eight counties within or near the Raleigh-Durham- Chapel Hill area is available after Gov. Josh Stein issued a state disaster declaration on Tuesday. As much as 9 to 12 inches (22.9 to 30.5 centimeters) of rain fell in the region at the close of the July 4 weekend, sending some rivers to record-breaking levels, affecting public water systems and damaging homes and businesses. There were at least six storm-related deaths, law enforcement agencies said. Stein also wrote President Donald Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday asking them to issue a federal major disaster declaration that would accelerate federal aid to help local governments with the costs of rebuilding roads and utilities, and for removing debris. Public assistance damage estimates have already totaled more than $42 million, according to Stein's office. Stein's state-of-emergency declaration three weeks ago in 13 central counties was designed to jump-start the process to seek federal recovery assistance. Stein's letter on Tuesday to Trump and FEMA said that Chantal's rains at the time resulted in more than 100 roads in the region being impassable because of flooding, sinkholes and structural damage. Dozens of flood-related rescues were carried out in Durham and Orange counties. Water service was interrupted in Mebane, and Hillsborough 's water treatment plant was offline for several days. Many displaced residents ended up in hotels. Individual aid from the state for items such as rental housing assistance, personal property replacement and medical expenses can be sought at disaster recovery centers in Orange, Durham and Alamance counties. Home and business owners already can seek U.S. Small Business Administration loans.
