The Australian equity market is set for a slightly weaker start to the week following a drop in US stocks Friday night after the rating cuts of Spain and Italy by Fitch overshadows stronger than expected US non-farm payroll figures.
The Dow declined 20.21 points to finish the week at 11103.12, following a streak of three straight triple-digit gains while the S&P500 shed 9.51 points to close at 1155.46.
Stocks started the session strong after September nonfarm payrolls rose by 103k which was over 40k more than expected but then eased off later in the trading session after Fitch Ratings announced that it had cut its ratings on both Italy and Spain, it put a spotlight on the risks swirling around the third and fourth largest economies in the 17 member euro zone.
On the back of Fitch Rating announcement the EURUSD (see above chat) dropped from highs of 1.3519 to trade as low as 1.3350.
WTI oil finished the session higher Friday as an improvement in the U.S. labour market managed to hold off concerns about twin ratings cuts to two of Europe’s largest economies. WTI traded up from lows of 81.39 to finish the session at 82.98
Gold traded down from highs of 1664.05 to lows of 1627.50 of credit-rating downgrades drew investors’ focus back to Europe’s debt crisis, erasing the economic optimism that had boosted precious metals earlier in the day
INDICES
Last Traded
SPI 200 future 4150
S&P500 Index 1155.46
Dow Jones 11103.12
FTSE 100 Index 5303.40
COMMODITIES
Last Traded
Gold 1637.85
Oil (Nymex) 82.98
CURRENCIES
Last Traded
AUDUSD 0.9740
EURUSD 1.3360
GBPUSD 1.5545
USDJPY 76.77
Source
Bloomberg, Dow Jones News