Australia

Australian shares are set to rise at the open, as US investors take slowing US job gains as more evidence that interest rates have peaked.

ASX futures were up 0.2% or 14 points as of 8:00am on Monday, suggesting a higher open.

The S&P 500 rallied Friday, capping its best weekly performance since November 2022, after the latest monthly jobs report suggested the Federal Reserve's interest-rate raising campaign is working.

The broad index gained 0.9%, bringing its gains for the week to 5.9%. The index is up 14% this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 200 points, or 0.7%, on Friday, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.4%. Those indexes also recorded their biggest weekly percentage gains of the year.

New economic data and the Fed's latest policy decision gave investors hope that the economy is pulling back enough for inflation to abate without falling into a recession—and that interest rates could be near their peak.

The October jobs report showed hiring slowed last month. Employers added 150,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department reported Friday, half the prior month's gain and below economists' expectations. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9% and wage growth eased.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil fell 2.3% to US$84.89 a barrel while gold rose 0.4% to US$1,992.65.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was lower at 4.34% while the 10 Year yield was also down at 4.72%. US Treasury notes were down, with the 2 Year yield at 4.84% and the 10 Year yield at 4.57%.

The Australian dollar was unchanged at 65.11 US cents. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was down at 99.41.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher led by robotic companies stocks on hopes for likely policy support following the release of a guidance by the government to develop the humanoid robots industry. Shenzhen Inovance Technology rose 3.9% and Guangzhou Haozhi Industrial gained 20%, reaching the daily limit. Bank and real estate sector stocks declined with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China losing 0.8% and Agricultural Bank of China declining 1.1%. Poly Developments & Holdings Group shed 0.6% and China World Trade Center Co. fell 2.5%. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.7% higher at 3030.80, the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.2% and the ChiNext Price Index gained 1.5%. All the three indexes gained for the week.

Hong Kong shares closed higher, tracking Wall Street gains overnight as investors bet that the Fed's rate hikes have come to an end. The Hang Seng Index surged 2.5% to 17664.12, while the Hang Seng Tech Index jumped 3.25%. Almost all stocks on the benchmark index rose in the session, with healthcare and tech stocks leading gains. Sino Biopharmaceutical advanced 8.4% and JD Health International gained 5.8%. Tencent Holdings added 4.85% and JD.com was up 3.7%. Apple supplier stocks rose broadly after the U.S. company said Chinese demand for iPhones was strong. Sunny Optical Technology rose 5.3% and AAC Technologies was up 7.3%.

Japanese trading was closed for the Culture Day national holiday.

Indian shares ended higher, tracking positive global cues. Investor sentiment was boosted after the U.S. Federal Reserve extended its pause on its interest rate hikes, boosting hopes that global central banks' policy tightening cycle is at an end. IT and auto stocks led the gains. TVS Motor advanced 2.0% and Tata Motors was up 1.7%. Tech Mahindra gained 1.5% and Infosys was 1.4% higher. Titan, a fashion accessories maker, rose 2.2% after its 2Q results beat estimates. Online food-delivery giant Zomato put on 8.3% after swinging to profit in its September quarter. The Sensex rose 0.4% to 64363.78, ending the week 0.9% higher, snapping a two-week losing streak.

Europe

European stocks traded mixed as losses for oil shares offset upbeat investor reaction to worse-than-expected US non-farm payroll data. The Stoxx Europe 600 and DAX advanced 0.2% and 0.3% respectively, though the CAC 40 dropped 0.2%. Oil stocks retreat as Brent crude backtracked 2.3% to $84.89 a barrel. "Oil's dropping as investors pare back concerns about a wider Middle-East war," IG analyst Chris Beauchamp writes, adding that comments from Hezbollah's leader seemed to indicate the group had no plans to intervene in the conflict. "Lower oil prices mean lower inflation too, another tailwind for stocks."

The FTSE 100 closed Friday down 0.56%, underperforming peers due to weakness in some of its bigger cap companies. BP and Shell in particular are slipping back with crude oil prices on course to close at a four-week low, as investors grow more confident that the tension in the Middle East will remain fairly contained, CMC Markets UK chief market analyst Michael Hewson says in a market comment. "Today's best performers on the FTSE 100 are Entain and Flutter Entertainment, who are doing well after U.S. sector peer DraftKings posted better-than-expected third-quarter revenue and upgraded its full-year guidance for 2023," Hewson says.

North America

The S&P 500 rallied Friday, capping its best weekly performance since November 2022, after the latest monthly jobs report suggested the Federal Reserve's interest-rate raising campaign is working.

The broad index gained 0.9%, bringing its gains for the week to 5.9%. The index is up 14% this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 200 points, or 0.7%, on Friday, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.4%. Those indexes also recorded their biggest weekly percentage gains of the year.

New economic data and the Fed's latest policy decision gave investors hope that the economy is pulling back enough for inflation to abate without falling into a recession—and that interest rates could be near their peak.

The October jobs report showed hiring slowed last month. Employers added 150,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department reported Friday, half the prior month's gain and below economists' expectations. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9% and wage growth eased.

"The jobs report was a Goldilocks report," said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial. "We may be getting a soft landing."

The Fed on Wednesday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged and hinted the central bank could be done raising rates for now, but didn't rule out another increase. Traders are pricing in a 95% probability that the Fed will leave rates as is in December, up from 79% a week ago, according to CME Group's federal-funds futures.

The Treasury Department also gave markets a surprise boost on Wednesday when it announced smaller-than-expected increases to longer-term debt auctions and suggested that it was willing to overstep informal guidelines for how much short-term Treasury bills to issue.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note ended the week at 4.557%, from 4.846% a week ago. That marked the steepest weekly drop since March.

The pullback in bond yields alleviated a pressure point for stocks. Higher yields make borrowing more expensive for companies and households. Elevated rates also make stocks look less attractive because they represent an essentially risk-free return, raising the bar for riskier assets such as equities.

"What we're seeing today is really a microcosm of what the market's been experiencing over the past couple of months, and it's that rates are driving the stock market," said Jeff Mills, chief investment strategist at Bessemer Trust.

The major U.S. stock indexes climbed Friday despite a decline in shares of Apple after a lackluster earnings report. The tech behemoth is the most heavily weighted component of the S&P 500, so it has an outsize influence on index performance.

"What's driving the markets has got little to nothing to do with earnings season," said Tony Roth, chief investment officer at Wilmington Trust.

Apple shares dropped 0.5% after the company reported its fourth consecutive quarter of falling revenue and warned that sales in the current quarter would be similar to last year. The company's business in China shrank, underscoring weakness from a broad economic slowdown in the country and new competition from rival Huawei Technologies.

Shares of Paramount rallied 15% after the company, parent of Paramount Pictures movie studio and the CBS broadcast network, said its streaming business lost less money last quarter. Shares of Block rose 11% after the payments company formerly known as Square raised its full-year guidance and beat expectations for the third quarter.

All but one of 11 sectors in the S&P 500 rose Friday. The energy sector slipped 1% as Brent crude dropped 2.3% to $84.89 a barrel.