Global Themes

Jobs shock

The US dollar was stronger over the weekend even after Friday night’s US non-farm payrolls reported a massive 700k fall in employment.

US shares dropped on the news, with the Dow Jones down 1.7%, and the Australian dollar fell in sympathy.

The market forecast had expected only 100k jobs to be lost in another sign of the worsening environment for the US economy.

The US unemployment rate jumped from 3.8% to 4.4%.

RMB weaker

The Chinese yuan, closely tied to expectations to for global growth, is highly sensitive to moves in global sharemarkets.

The USDCNH climbed 0.3%.

Jobs key for economy

The ongoing spread of the coronavirus outbreak remains the key driver of equity and FX markets.

In terms of data, today’s early focus is on the Australian job markets.

The ANZ job advertisement series will be closely watched with shifts in the employment market critical to the impact on the real-world economy.

Later in the week, the Reserve Bank of Australia, ECB minutes and US CPI are seen as the major releases.