Asia-Pacific Markets Open Lower After US Jobs Repor
Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Monday (1/13), after Friday’s US jobs report dampened investor expectations for an early interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.84% lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures last traded at 18,971, lower than Friday’s HSI close of 19,064.29.
Japanese markets are closed for a holiday. South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.4% in the first hour of trading, while the Kosdaq fell 0.3%.
China is scheduled to release December trade data later in the day, while India is expected to report its inflation figures.
Investors in Asia will be keeping a close eye on Chinese bond yields after the country’s central bank suspended purchases of government bonds last Friday. The yield on China’s 10-year Treasury note plunged to a record low this month.
China’s onshore yuan hit a 16-month low against the dollar last week, while the offshore yuan has been on a downward slide for months since September. China’s benchmark CSI 300 index closed at its lowest since September 2024 on Friday.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, the Bank of Korea is expected to meet on Thursday, and Australia is scheduled to announce its December unemployment rate on the same day. China will release its fourth-quarter 2024 GDP on Friday, along with retail sales and industrial output data.
U.S. stocks fell on Friday after a strong jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 696.75 points, or 1.63%, to close at 41,938.45. The S&P 500 fell 1.54% to 5,827.04, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.63% to 19,161.63. Friday’s losses pushed major benchmarks into the red for 2025.
U.S. jobs grew by 256,000 in December, while economists surveyed by Dow Jones had forecast a gain of 155,000. The unemployment rate, which had been projected to remain at 4.2%, fell to 4.1% during the month. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to its highest level since late 2023 after the report.
Source: CNBC
