Japan Unemployment Rate Declined in September

News Event

From Trading Economics: Unemployment Rate in Japan decreased to 3 percent in September from 3.10 percent in August of 2016. Unemployment Rate in Japan averaged 2.73 percent from 1953 until 2016, reaching an all-time high of 5.60 percent in July of 2009 and a record low of 1 percent in November of 1968. Unemployment Rate in Japan is reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications.

Market Snap

Market Closing Wrap

In European Equity Markets, stocks steadied at the close on Thursday, with stronger pharmaceutical and banking stocks offsetting a fall in companies like Amec Foster and Berendsen. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended flat in percentage terms after moving in and out of positive territory several times during the day, with healthcare stocks leading sectoral gainers as they recovered from recent losses. UK engineering firm Amec Foster lost more than 20 percent after saying that 2016 and 2017 trading would be in line with its board's expectations. Berendsen fell 16.3 percent after the commercial laundry company issued a profit warning, citing higher-than-expected costs. Nokia fell 7.6 percent after reporting a sharp fall in third-quarter earnings.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar hit its highest in more than seven and a half years against the Swedish crown after dovish comments from Sweden's central bank and hit a three-month high against the yen on expectations of a December Federal Reserve rate hike. The dollar was last up 1.22 percent against the Swedish crown at 9.0164 crowns after touching 9.0424 crowns, its highest level since early March 2009. The dollar hit a three-month high against the yen of 105.00 yen and was last up 0.47 percent at 104.95 yen. The euro was up 0.25 percent against the dollar at $1.0934. The dollar was down 0.13 percent against the Swiss franc at 0.9919 franc. The dollar index was last mostly flat at 98.652.

In Commodities Markets  oil edged higher on Thursday, lifted by a reported fall in U.S. crude inventories stored at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub, and as commitments from Gulf OPEC members assuaged lingering doubts in the market about cooperation from other producers.  Brent crude was up 65 cents at $50.66 a barrel. U.S. crude gained 64 cents to $49.82. U.S. crude stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery base showed a weekly decrease of 650,000 barrels, traders said, citing data from energy monitoring service Genscape.  Spot gold was up 0.2 percent on Thursday at $1,269.21 an ounce. Silver was up 0.2 percent at $17.61 an ounce, while platinum was flat at $961. Palladium fell 1.5 percent to $612.40 per ounce.

In US Equity Markets  stocks reversed course late Thursday morning as weak results from several industrial and consumer discretionary companies eclipsed gains from healthcare stocks.  The S&P 500 was down 0.14 percent, at 2,136.52 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.26 percent, at 5,236.65. Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with the newly minted real estate index falling 2.52 percent mainly due to a 3.4 percent fall in Simon Property, which reported results on Wednesday. Tesla rose 4.1 percent after the electric carmaker reported its first quarterly net profit in more than three years. Comcast whose quarterly net income fell by more than 50 percent, were chiefly responsible for the consumer discretionary index to fall 0.77 percent.

In Bond Markets  U.S. Treasury debt yields climbed to roughly five-month peaks on Thursday, driven by gains in German and British bonds as well as upbeat U.S. jobless claims data that point to another robust non-farm payrolls number next week. German 10-year bund yields rose to five-month peaks, while that of 10-year British bonds advanced to more than four-month highs, lifting U.S. Treasury yields in the process. Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were down 22/32 in price to yield 1.867 percent, up from 1.79 percent late on Wednesday. U.S. 30-year bonds were down more than a point in price to yield 2.628 percent, up from Wednesday's 2.537 percent. U.S. two-year note yields were at 0.896 percent, up from Wednesday's 0.872 percent.

Source: Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management