Last Friday, as U.S. nonfarm payroll growth in September fell short of expectations and the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2%, market expectations for a Fed rate hike in October largely faded. The U.S. Dollar Index gave back some of its gains, ultimately closing down 0.08% at 101.94.The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note initially fell before rising, ultimately gaining 3.2 basis points to close at 5.283%; the yield on the 2-year U.S. Treasury note, which is sensitive to the Fed’s policy rate, rose 3.1 basis points to 4.835%.
Pressured by high U.S. Treasury yields, spot gold fell sharply during the U.S. trading session, breaking below the $4,200 mark, and ultimately closed down 0.9% at $4,139.24 per ounce;spot silver ultimately closed down 1.04% at $60.35 per ounce.
International oil prices continued to decline after the Group of Seven agreed last Friday to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from emergency reserves.WTI crude oil fell below the $90 mark, plunging nearly 5% at one point during the session before rebounding slightly; it ultimately closed down 1.71% at $90.33 per barrel. Brent crude oil initially fell but then rose, ultimately closing up 0.38% at $101.83 per barrel.
All three major U.S. stock indices rose: the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.49%, the S&P 500 rose 0.74%, and the Nasdaq gained 1.19%. SpaceX (SPCX.O) rose 7.35%, Tesla (TSLA.O) rose 4.65%,Dell (DELL.N) rose 3.8%, Broadcom (AVGO.O) rose 3.35%, ASML (ASML.O) rose 3.25%, and Nvidia (NVDA.O) rose 1.34%;Accenture (ACN.N) fell 6.27%, and SanDisk fell 3.79%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index fell 2.09%, with Alibaba (BABA.N) down 1.47% and Baidu (BIDU.O) down 1.48%.