Jobs Data Provides Market’s Small Gain; U.S. Dollar Falls to Session Lows Against Euro, Yen; Europe Rallies Heading into Weekend

Jobs Data Provides Market’s Small Gain (Bloomberg)

July was host to a lower-than-expected number of jobs added, and investors took this data as a signal that the Federal Reserve will not trim its bond purchasing in the near future. As of early Friday afternoon, this situation has the S&P 500 on track for its biggest weekly gain in almost a month. “The market will read [the] jobs report as part of the mixed data that’s shaping the Fed’s policy,” said Stephen Wood, a New York-based chief market strategist at Russell Investments. “The pattern of economic growth looks more lumpy coming into this quarter.”

U.S. Dollar Falls to Session Lows against Euro, Yen (Reuters)

After troubling U.S. market data ensured that the Federal Reserve would not begin tampering in the near future, the dollar fell against the Yen and Euro Friday. “Any misconceptions that the Fed was looking to taper in September have been blown out of the water today after the nonfarm payrolls number disappoints to the n’th degree,” said Douglas Borthwick, managing director at Chapdelaine Foreign Exchange in New York. “The U.S. economy remains on a shaky foundation in terms of both GDP and employment. Until the foundation is strengthened, the Fed will be forced to continue its easing bias.”

Europe Rallies Heading into Weekend  (Bloomberg)

Boosted by the large gains of European companies like Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and Bayer AG, European Stock Indexes rose Friday. “Investors have a far more positive outlook on European equities now than before as they are hoping the economy will oblige and show an improvement next year,” Andrew Parry, the chief executive officer of Hermes Sourcecap Ltd. in London, said. “Expectations for profit have already fallen so much that if a company is posting slightly better earnings on depressed estimates, that’s a welcome relief.”