TOKYO (AP) — Investors focused on key U.S. jobs data to be released later in the day to gauge the health of the economy and see how the Federal Reserve will respond to interest rates. Global stocks were mostly down on Friday.
France’s CAC40 fell 1.3% in early trading to 8,042.05, while Germany’s DAX fell 1.4% to 18,153.11. Britain’s FTSE 100 index fell nearly 1.0% to 7,898.31. US stocks were mixed, with Dow futures down 0.2% to 38,988.00 and S&P 500 futures up 0.3% to 5,213.25.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei Stock Average fell 2.0% to end at 38,992.08. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.6% to 7,773.30. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.0% to 2,714.21. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was almost unchanged at 16,723.92.
Tensions in the Middle East have heightened the sense of pessimism. But some analysts suggested the Fed could cut rates at least once this year.
“We are already seeing clear signs of a slowdown in economic activity and continuing wage pressures,” said Tan Jing Yee of Mizuho Bank Singapore.
Other analysts, including Hitoshi Kenzaki of Société Générale Group, believe that Chinese stocks and other Asian stocks will continue to perform well this month.
“Japan has benefited greatly from the absence of a recession in the United States, with exporters leading the rise in stock prices,” the report said.
Traders had already sharply reduced their expectations for how many interest rate cuts the U.S. Federal Reserve would make this year, from six at the beginning of the year to three in recent days. This was broadly consistent with Fed officials.
But some recent updates on the economy have been better than expected. Concerns were heightened earlier this week when a report was released showing an unexpected rebound in growth in U.S. manufacturing.
Wall Street is hoping the job market will cool enough to remove upward pressure on inflation, but not so much that too many people lose their jobs and trigger a recession.
That’s why expectations are high for Friday’s report from the U.S. government showing how many jobs were added across the country last month. Economists expect the economy to cool down in March from February.
In the oil market, benchmark US crude oil fell 16 cents per barrel to $86.43 per barrel. It rose $1.16 on Thursday to settle at $86.59. Brent crude, the international standard crude, rose 3 cents to $90.68.
In currency trading, the dollar rose slightly from 151.30 yen to 151.43 yen. The euro was at $1.0845, up slightly from $1.0841.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.
Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press
