Dollar Rallies, Treasuries Falter on Strong Hiring: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar surged by the most in six weeks and Treasuries fell after hiring data from last month came in stronger than forecast, underpinning the case for tighter monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose a ninth straight day to close at a record.

The greenback averted a fourth straight weekly slide after government figures showed employers added workers at a solid clip and wage growth picked up in July. The S&P 500 Index ended one point below an all-time high to cap a weekly gain, while the Dow’s winning streak is the longest since February, as the weak dollar boosts megacaps. The 10-year Treasury yield rose as the notes pared a weekly advance. Oil trimmed a weekly loss, while gold slumped.

Broad-based hiring in July along with stronger household incomes and buoyant consumer confidence may give the Federal Reserve reason to raise interest rates later this year as it seeks to normalize monetary policy. The dollar’s bounce propelled it higher from the lowest since 2015 as investors sought faster growth in economies outside the U.S.

Markets meanwhile continued to shrug at mounting signs that President Donald Trump’s policy agenda has run aground, with assets from stocks to the dollar largely looking past reports Thursday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election has intensified.

Terminal users can read more in our Markets Live blog.

Here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 advanced 0.2 percent to 2,476.40 at 4 p.m. in New York, finishing higher by that amount over the five days.
• The Dow rose 0.3 percent to close at 22,090.5, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced Friday to pare its loss in the week to 0.3 percent.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1 percent, pushing its gain in the five days to 1.1 percent. 
• The MSCI All-Country World Index was little changed and up 0.4 percent for the week.
• Emerging-market shares added 0.3 percent.

Stocks

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rallied 0.5 percent, putting it up 0.3 percent on the week.
• The euro tumbled 0.8 percent to $1.1773.
• The British pound slumped 0.8 percent to $1.3039.
• The yen slid 0.5 percent to 110.64 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 2.27 percent. 
• Germany’s 10-year yield gained two basis points to 0.47 percent. 
• Britain’s 10-year yield climbed three basis points to 1.18 percent.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.9 percent to $49.48 a barrel, paring a decline for the week that had reached more than 2 percent.
• Gold sank 0.7 percent to $1,259.16 an ounce. 
• Copper advanced 0.3 percent to $2.89 a pound.

Asia

• Japan’s Topix index slid 0.2 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.3 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.4 percent after sliding 1.7 percent on Thursday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index swung between gains and losses before ending down.
• The Japanese yen dipped less than 0.1 percent to 110.12 per dollar.

--With assistance from Eddie van der Walt and Robert Brand

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy Herron in New York at jherron8@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Eric J. Weiner