Open July 5

In Asian Equity Markets were muted on Friday morning ahead of the release of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report. Mainland Chinese stocks were lower in early trade, with the Shanghai composite down 0.22% and the Shenzhen component largely flat. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was near flat. In Japan, both the Nikkei 225 and the Topix were fractionally lower. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.23%, as shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell more than 1% after reporting that second-quarter profit likely fell 56% as compared to a year ago.


In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar was steady on Friday as traders held off on making big bets ahead of the closely-watched U.S. non-farm jobs report that could influence the course of near-term Federal Reserve policy. The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies stood little changed 96.754, having spent the previous day in a tight range as the U.S. financial markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday. The Australian dollar was flat at $0.7023 after climbing to a two-month high of $0.7048 the previous day.


In Commodities Markets crude oil prices fell on Friday as concerns over the outlook for global economic growth outweighed elevated tensions in the Middle East that could disrupt supply routes and send prices higher. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 1.1% at $56.72 per barrel. There was no settlement price on Thursday because of the Independence Day holiday in the United States. Front-month Brent crude futures were down 0.1% at $63.25 per barrel, after closing down 0.8% on Thursday.


In US Equity Markets trading activity was closed due to the U.S. July Fourth holiday.


In Bond Markets Canadian government bond prices were lower across the yield curve. The two-year fell 2 Canadian cents to yield 1.509%, its highest yield since May 29, while the 10-year was down 10 Canadian cents to yield 1.466%. Canada’s jobs report for June is due on Friday.