Beijing, Oct 7 (BUS): Asian stocks followed a fall on Wall Street on Friday ahead of the US jobs data, and investors hoped to persuade the Federal Reserve to ease plans to raise interest rates.
Tokyo and Hong Kong, the region’s largest markets, fell. Chinese markets are closed for a holiday. Oil prices were little changed, according to the Associated Press.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 fell 1% Thursday after a private sector report said US employers hired slightly more workers than expected in September.
This gives ammunition to Federal Reserve officials who say more interest rate hikes are needed to cool the economy and rein in inflation, which is at its highest level in four decades.
Investors have been watching the release of US government data on Friday that is expected to show fewer people were employed than in previous months. They hope that will help convince the Fed to raise interest rates five times this year, and can scale back plans for even more.
The Federal Reserve and central banks around the world are focused on stamping out multi-decade inflation, but investors fear that the large and rapid pace of interest rate hikes could push the global economy into recession.
Strong US employment is positive for job seekers but a sign of continued economic strength, which could lead the Fed to believe more rate hikes are needed.
US government data showed that the number of jobless claims reached a four-month high last week. This indicates that the labor market may be slowing down.
Forecasters expect the government to announce that the economy added 250,000 jobs last month, well below last year’s monthly average of 487,000, but still a solid number despite inflation and two straight quarters of economic contraction in the United States.
In energy markets, the price of US crude rose 2 cents to $88.47 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract advanced 69 cents Thursday to $88.45. Brent crude, the price basis for global oil trade, slipped 4 cents to $94.38 a barrel in London. It rose $1.05 in the previous session to $94.42.
The dollar fell to 144.92 yen from 145.07 yen on Thursday. The euro rose to 98.11 cents from 97.94 cents.
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