Global indices, especially the US and European exchanges, ended on a high this week, following the better-than-expected US jobs report on Friday.
Apprehensions about inflation-inducing high-interest rates were laid to rest when the report revealed sluggish wage increase figures, assuaging fears among investors that the Federal Reserve may keep the high-interest rates unchanged or even hike them.
The Wall Street rally drove the momentum across stock exchanges worldwide, with many ending their weeks-long losing streaks.
The Global Stock Market Indices this Week
| Global Indices | Weekly Change (%) |
| Dow Jones | -0.30 |
| S&P 500 | 0.48 |
| NASDAQ | 1.60 |
| FTSE | -1.49 |
| CAC | -1.05 |
| DAX | -1.02 |
| GIFT Nifty | 0.80 |
| Nikkei 225 | -2.71 |
| Straits Times | -1.34 |
| Hang Seng | -1.82 |
| Taiwan Weighted | -0.22 |
| KOSPI | -2.71 |
| SET Composite | -2.24 |
| Jakarta Composite | -0.74 |
| Shanghai Composite | 0.84 |
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Global Indices: US Markets
Emboldened by a strong jobs report from the labor department, the US-based global stock indices enjoyed gains and ended the week on a high.
Unfortunately, it was not enough to cover the weekly losses in some cases.
Dow Jones:
- A robust jobs report helped the US stocks rally on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 33407.58, gaining 0.87% or 288.01 pts. However, it was down 0.3% from the previous week, falling for the third consecutive week.
- According to the US Labour Department, 336,000 jobs were added to the national economy in September.
- In response to the report, the 10-year Treasury rate traded close to its highest level in 16 years.
S&P 500:
- Riding on the positive US job report released on Friday, the S&P 500 closed the week at 4308.50, gaining 1.18% or 50.31 points.
- The index gained 0.5% from last week, ending a four-week losing run.
- Before the report, investors worried that an in-demand labour market might further increase wage growth, leading the Federal Reserve to keep the high interest rates unchanged or even hike them.
NASDAQ:
The NASDAQ Composite closed the week at 13,431.34, gaining 1.6% or 211.51 points and enjoying back-to-back weekly gains.
Global Indices: European Markets
The Wall Street rally helped the Europe-based global share indices garner substantial gains, though it was not enough to cover weekly losses for some.
FTSE 100:
- The FTSE 100 suffered a weekly loss, driven by fears that central banks would keep the interest rates high in response to the latest US jobs report.
- On Friday, the FTSE closed high, thanks to a rally by the financial and energy stocks. However, there was a sharp decline from the previous week, fuelled by rising government bond yields in anticipation of global equity markets being affected by high-interest rates.
CAC:
- The healthcare, consumer goods, and technology sectors helped French stocks gain momentum, while O&G and the financial sectors suffered losses.
- The CAC gained 0.88% before closing on Friday. Companies like Dassault Systemes SE, STMicroelectronics NV and Teleperformance SE were the biggest winners, while Danone SA, Pernod Ricard SA and Alstom SA saw their share prices fall.
DAX:
The German stock exchange was bolstered by a US Wall Street rally following the positive jobs report, gaining 1.05% or 159.55 points to close at 15,229.77 but registering a weekly loss of 1.02%.
Global Indices: Asian Markets
Asia-based global market indices like the Hang Seng enjoyed gains amid reports of strong spending during the Chinese Golden Week holidays.
Investors are optimistic about China-based world market indices reopening on Monday.
GIFT Nifty:
- A derivative contract of the Nifty index, a benchmark India Stock Market financial index, the GIFT Nifty was earlier known as the SGX Nifty. It was renamed the GIFT Nifty and shifted from Singapore to the GIFT city, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, to operate out of the new international exchange, the NSE IFSC.
- The GIFT Nifty began trading on 3rd Jul 2021.
- Institutional investors and hedge funds use the index to hedge their exposure to the Indian Stock Market.
- The index closed the week at 19770, 0.8% higher than last week.
Nikkei 225:
- Japanese stocks closed this week on a low, driven by a drop in share prices in the financial, automobile and shipbuilding sectors.
- Companies like Oki Electric Industry Co. (1015 close, up 55 pts or 5.73%), Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (5445 close, up 217 pts or 4.15%) and Ajinomoto Co. (5900 close, up 155 pts or 2.7%) ended on a high.
- Ube Industries Ltd. (2317.5 close, down 84.5 pts or 3.52%), Impex Corp. (1916.5 close, down 46.5 pts or 2.37%) and Shiseido Co. Ltd. (5197 close, down 125 pts or 2.35%) experienced a drop in their stock price value.
Straits Times:
- Though the Straits Times Index (STI) rose 19.29 points, gaining 0.6% to close at 3174.39 on Friday, it was still a drop from last week.
- 1.3 Bn shares worth $802.8 Mn were traded, resulting in increased share price value for 329 companies and losses for 268.
- The top gainer for STI was Singapore Airlines, trading 5.7 Mn shares and rising 2.8% to $6.55. The top loser was Mapletree Logistics Trust, decreasing by 3.7% to drop to $1.55.
Hang Seng
- Stocks in Hong Kong rose on Friday, with investors looking forward to the US non-farm payrolls data to gauge how long the high-interest rates would last.
- Traders were also optimistic about the reopening of China’s markets next week following the Golden Week holiday.
- Hong Kong’s benchmark index, the Hang Seng, rose 1.56% on Friday but was still down 1.8% from the previous week.
KOSPI:
- Most Asian markets gained cautious momentum on Friday in anticipation of a detailed report on the US job market.
- This sentiment was reflected in South Korea’s KOSPI, which gained 0.2% to reach 2408.73 but was down against the previous week.
Jakarta Composite:
- With the entry of PT Sumber Sinergi Makmur Tbk and PT Kokoh Exa Nusantara Tbk, the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) created a record for the highest number of new issuers annually.
- This number is expected to increase to 68 organisations in 2023, surpassing the previous best of 66 in 1990.
- The sluggish stock market performance and a weakening rupiah offer opportunities to investors in the Indonesian capital markets. Bond yields and interest rates are expected to be stable till the end of this year.
Shanghai Composite:
- China’s Shanghai Composite Stock Index was closed on Friday for the Golden Week holidays.
- If Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is any indication, investors can look forward to the reopening of the Chinese markets next week with hope. According to the Shanghai Securities News, Golden Week holiday spending outperformed pre-pandemic levels on Chinese online platforms.
Wrapping Up
Will the world indices be able to carry the momentum created by the US Labour Department report into next week?
Will the Chinese Golden Week Holidays boost the Asian markets?
Watch this space!
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I’m Archana R. Chettiar, an experienced content creator with
an affinity for writing on personal finance and other financial content. I
love to write on equity investing, retirement, managing money, and more.