3 weeks ago

Asian Stocks Edge Higher on US Jobs Data; Oil Climbs

Asian Stocks Edge Higher on US Jobs Data; Oil Climbs
Asian Stocks Edge Higher On Soft US Jobs Data; South Korea's Kospi Adds 0.5% · news18.com

This article is about money, stock markets, and oil.

There is a big group in the United States called the Federal Reserve that helps decide how expensive it is to borrow money.

It was thinking about making borrowing more expensive in September, but a new report showed that the US job market was a little weaker than people expected.

Because of that, fewer people now think the Fed will raise rates soon, and investors felt happier.

Happier investors pushed stock markets in Asia higher on Monday, with Japan's main market up 0.6 percent and South Korea's up 0.5 percent.

At the same time, oil became more expensive because a very important waterway called the Strait of Hormuz is not fully open for ships.

Iran said it is close to a deal with Oman about new shipping lanes, but it says the strait will only fully reopen after the United States meets other conditions.

When oil costs more, many other things can cost more too, which worries the Fed.

Later this week, a new report about prices in the US will help investors guess what the Fed will do next.

Key facts

Nikkei 225
+0.6%
Kospi
+0.5%
Brent crude
$84.32 per barrel (+0.9%)
WTI crude
$78.74 per barrel (+0.7%)
September Fed rate hike odds
About 44%, down from 67% a week ago
10-year US Treasury yield
4.673%
Expected July CPI
+0.1% headline, +0.2% core
S&P 500 EPS growth
Up about 30% year-over-year excluding Alphabet and Amazon investment gains

Quotes

Michael Feroli

Chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan

“"Our forecast for core CPI of 0.22% is probably not quite firm enough to prompt a hike from the Fed at the September meeting, though repeated prints closer to 0.3% could do it."”
news18.com
“"AI remains the stand out, with median EPS growth of 28% versus 12% for non‑AI related stocks, though consensus expects AI to slow to 16% next quarter."”
news18.com

Sources

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