U.S. Opening Bell: Futures, EU Stocks Edge Up; Dollar Slips, Gold, Oil Gain

 | Sep 02, 2021 11:57

  • The Reflation Trade endures
  • Asian markets suffer foreign investor exodus
  • Bitcoin hovering at the $50,000 level

    • Key Events/h2

    Dow, S&P, NASDAQ and Russell 2000 futures traded slightly higher on Thursday morning ahead of key US employment data due to be released on Friday which will give insight into the state of the country's economic recovery.

    Yields and the dollar traded lower.

    Global Financial Affairs/h2

    The importance of tomorrow's nonfarm payrolls report got an additional boost last week when Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell said at the Jackson Hole Symposium that tightening of the Fed's monetary policy was dependent on continued improvement of the US jobs market. Therefore, investors may assign increased significance to the monthly numbers for August.

    Analysts expect the headline figure to be 750,000 new jobs created, down from last month’s 943,000. Even though jobs growth is expected to slow, the unemployment rate is forecast to decline to 5.2% from 5.4%, another important gauge for the Fed, whose mandate, among others, is to “promote effectively the goals of maximum employment.”

    All four US contracts were in the green, roughly up 0.2%, with a slight advantage to Russell 2000 futures, +0.25%. These gains follow yesterday’s flat close on Wall Street for the S&P 500, and a small, 0.14% decline for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Investors preferred the indexes sensitive to an economic reopening, with the Russell 2000 outperforming on Wednesday, advancing just 0.6%, while the NASDAQ 100 gained 0.2%.

    European shares this morning were able to break away from an earlier Asian selloff. The STOXX 600 Index extended yesterday’s rally, led by the oil and chemical sector, as well as travel firms, for the second day—all part of the reflation trade. Conversely, consumer non-cyclicals and miners were lower. Uncertainty about monetary policy compounded concerns over indications of a fizzling recovery which tempered gains. The pan-European benchmark is trading at 0.4% below its Aug. 13 record close, as of the time of writing.

    Asia suffered an said that the group should reconsider raising production amid a worsening pandemic. Perhaps his comments removed the certainty of an increase which would explain why the price fell.

    The production hike will offset the slide in US oil production after the recent hurricane in Louisiana caused significant dislocation to the US oil industry.