Last Friday, U.S. nonfarm payrolls for August far exceeded market expectations, pushing the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike in September to nearly 60 percent. Trump praised the data but once again called on the Fed to cut interest rates significantly, warning that he would otherwise cut off trade with countries that run a trade deficit with the U.S.
Following the release of the strong nonfarm payrolls data, the U.S. Dollar Index briefly surged by 40 points. However, its gains narrowed amid Trump’s pressure on the Fed to cut rates, and it ultimately closed up 0.168% at 99.16;The yield on the 2-year U.S. Treasury note, which is sensitive to the Fed’s policy rate, closed up more than 3 basis points at 4.3703%, having touched 4.42% during the session—its highest level since January 2025; the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose about 1 basis point to close at 4.789%.
Under pressure from the market pricing in a hawkish Fed stance, spot gold fell more than 2% at one point during the session, hitting a low of $4,365.76 per ounce,before recouping most of its losses to return above the psychological $4,400 mark, ultimately closing down 0.96% at $4,430.33 per ounce; spot silver closed down 1.13% at $66.22 per ounce.
As a new round of military escalation between the U.S. and Iran intensified market concerns over supply, while rare signs that the Russia-Ukraine conflict was nearing an end weakened the geopolitical risk premium, international oil prices traded sideways ahead of the upcoming U.S. Labor Day holiday.WTI crude oil once again failed to break through the $90 mark, ultimately closing down 0.42% at $89.31 per barrel; Brent crude oil closed down 0.14% at $94.50 per barrel. The average U.S. retail price for diesel hit a record high of $5.85 per gallon.
All three major U.S. stock indices fell: the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.51%, the S&P 500 fell 0.38%, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.29%.Tesla (TSLA.O) fell 5.92%, Apple (AAPL.O) dropped 2.51%, and Microsoft (MSFT.O) declined 2.04%;The AI chip supply chain sector performed strongly, with SanDisk (SNDK.O) up 11.9%, SK Hynix (SKHY.O) up 8.14%, Micron Technology (MU.O) up 6.1%, and Intel (INTC.O) up 4.51%.The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index rose 0.89%, with Xpeng Motors (XPEV.N) down 1.75%, Baidu (BIDU.O) up 4.07%, and Alibaba (BABA.N) up 1.26%.