New Zealand dollar falls below US$0.62  

Key Movers

The US Dollar Index (DXY) climbed into a fifth consecutive bullish day on Friday, driven higher by better-than-expected US Nonfarm Payrolls figures. American employers added 254,000 jobs last month in the penultimate jobs report before the US election, defying fears of a slowdown in the labour market. Job creation unexpectedly accelerated in September, while the headline unemployment rate slipped to 4.1% from 4.2% in August. Economists had forecast a non-farm payrolls reading of around 132,500 for September, after a cooler summer of employment growth. Annual wage growth also firmed up in September, rising 4.0% YoY from the previous 3.9%. Investors had expected September’s Average Hourly Earnings growth to ease back to 3.8%. With wages and net jobs additions blowing well past expectations across the board, rate market expectations of a higher pace of rate cuts have taken a huge hit to round out a middling-at-best trading week.

Stocks advanced on Friday after an expectation-defying jobs report gave investors confidence in the health of the economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% to 5,751.07, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.22% to 18,137.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 341.16 points, or 0.81%, to notch an all-time closing high of 42,352.75. The S&P 500 finished up 0.22% on the week, while the Dow inched higher by 0.09%. The Nasdaq added 0.1% for the week, a major turnaround given the tech-heavy index came into Friday’s session down more than 1%. The next week will bring closely watched inflation data and minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting. A handful of major corporate earnings reports are also due.