Australian Market

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index closed 1.0% lower, with technology stocks leading losses. Still, losses were offset by strong energy stocks, which rose 3.1%. Australia’s unemployment rate was unchanged in September at 3.5%, even as the economy added only a handful of jobs for the month.

US Market 

U.S. stocks moved lower as investors weighed the latest batch of corporate earnings and the question of how aggressively central banks will raise interest rates to moderate inflation. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3%.

“At the moment, we keep getting upside surprises on inflation everywhere you look,” said Hugh Gimber, a strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “No one really has a good grasp yet of where the central banks — particularly the Fed — are going to be able to stop.”

Stocks have been volatile in recent sessions, buoyed by a batch of mixed though better-than-expected earnings results. Still, some investors believe that earnings expectations are too high across the board and a downward recalibration is likely ahead.

Commodities

Gold ended higher as prices for the precious metal continued to seesaw this week alongside the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields. December gold climbed 0.2% to settle at $1,636.80 per ounce. Prices of the most-active gold contract rose as some precious-metals traders bet that expectations for further Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes may have finally peaked, according to Daniel Ghali, senior commodity strategist at TD Securities.

Oil Futures

Oil futures ended mixed, with Brent crude prices lower, but the U.S. benchmark futures contract settling higher on its expiration day, as traders weighed a report that China may ease quarantine restrictions on visitors to the country. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery rose 0.5% to end at $85.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on its expiration day. December Brent crude, the global benchmark, declined by less than 0.1% to settle at $92.38 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Forex

Major currencies were mostly firmer against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from lows near US$0.9772 to highs near US$0.9844 and was near US$0.9780 at the US close. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US62.48 cents to highs near US63.54 cents and was near US62.80 cents at the US close. But the Japanese yen eased from 149.55 yen per US dollar to JPY150.28 and was near JPY150.15 at the US close.

European Markets

European sharemarkets advanced on Thursday after Liz Truss resigned as UK Prime Minister. Truss’s package of fiscal policies, had caused havoc in financial markets due to their mix of tax cuts and higher spending, forcing the Bank of England to intervene. The UK FTSE 100 index rose by 0.3%. And the continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 index added 0.2%, though gains were capped after data showed that German producer prices soared by 45.8% in September on the same month last year (survey: 45.4%).

Asian Markets

Earlier, in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average ended 0.9% lower, dragged by falls in electronics stocks, as concerns persist over policy tightening by major central banks. Chinese shares ended lower, dragged by auto makers and consumer goods companies as Covid-19 infections in Beijing swelled to their highest level in four months. Among the gainers were chip stocks. The Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.3%, the Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 0.5% and the ChiNext Price Index was 1.0% lower.