· U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in August after two straight months of hefty increases, but the pace of gains should be more than enough for the Federal Reserve to announce a plan to start trimming a massive bond portfolio accumulated as it sought to bolster the economy.
· Following the data, traders were betting on a 39 percent chance that the Federal Reserve would raise rates at its December meeting, similar to bets earlier in the week, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
· The Labor Department said on Friday nonfarm payrolls increased by 156,000 last month. The smaller household survey showed a decline in employment last month. As a result, the unemployment rate ticked up one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.4 percent.
· Average hourly earnings rose three cents or 0.1 percent after advancing 0.3 percent in July, keeping the year-on-year gain in wages at 2.5 percent for a fifth consecutive month. The average workweek slipped to 34.4 hours from 34.5 hours in July.
· The U.S. dollar edged higher against a basket of major rivals on Friday after U.S. jobs data was seen as decent enough to support the possibility of another interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve this year.
The dollar reversed its losses and pushed higher, however, with the euro last down 0.4 percent at $1.1866 after briefly hitting a session high of $1.1979. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last up 0.1 percent at 92.801 after initially plunging 0.5 percent.
The dollar was last up 0.2 percent against the yen at 110.21 yen after slumping to a session low of 109.57 yen just after the jobs data.
· A potential standoff over the U.S. federal debt ceiling is raising alarm bells among fund managers who fear a repeat of 2011 when a protracted showdown over increasing the government’s borrowing limit and subsequent downgrade of U.S. credit quality led to a more than 15 percent slump in the S&P 500 stock index.
U.S. investors are raising cash and buying protection, bracing for a messy fight ahead of the Treasury Department’s Sept. 29 deadline to raise the debt limit, a legal cap on how much the U.S. government is allowed to borrow.
Failure to increase the debt ceiling could lead to a recession and prompt the first significant sell-off of the Trump administration. The benchmark S&P 500 has not fallen by 5 percent or more in over a year, the longest streak without such a decline in more than 20 years.
· U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to revise a joint treaty capping the development of the South’s ballistic missiles, Moon’s office said on Saturday, amid a standoff over North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests.
· North Korea said on state television on Sunday afternoon that it successfully carried out a test of a hydrogen bomb intended to be carried by an intercontinental ballistic missile.
· North Korea on Sunday conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, which it said was of an advanced hydrogen bomb for a long-range missile, prompting the threat of a “massive” military response from the United States if it or its allies were threatened.
Speaking outside the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump and his national security team, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Trump asked to be briefed on all available military options.
· Benchmark U.S. gasoline prices slid for the first day since Hurricane Harvey struck the U.S. oil industry heartland, as some refineries restarted operations, while oil prices remained under pressure and settled about flat.
Brent crude LCOc1 for November settled 11 cents lower at $52.75 a barrel. The Brent contract for October, which expired on Thursday, closed up $1.52 at $52.38.
U.S. crude CLc1 settled 6 cents higher at $47.29 a barrel after trading lower for most of the day.
For the week, Brent was up 0.65 percent while U.S. crude posted a weekly decline of 1.25 percent.
· About 5.5 percent of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico’s oil production, or 96,000 barrels of daily output, remained shut on Sunday after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas more than a week ago, the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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