• US stocks plunge as tech sell-off continues
• US jobless rate drops more than expected
European equities finished final session of the week lower, tracking Wall Street as the tech sell-off continued. Also, recent PMI data showed mixed picture of the Eurozone's construction sector. Figures for Germany showed the construction sector shrank for the 6th month and factory orders rose much less than expected, while in Italy construction sector increased for the fourth month in a row. Also rising number of new coronavirus cases weighed on market sentiment. Spain reported 8,959 new infections and UK recorded 1,940 new cases on Friday, the highest since end of May. On the political front, the EU is considering fresh sanctions on Russia following the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. During today's session DAX 30 fell over 1%, while both CAC 40 and FTSE 100 finished 0.9% lower. For the week, the DAX dropped 1.8%, CAC 40 declined 0.8%, FTSE 100 lost 2.8%.
US indices extended declines on Friday, with the Nasdaq on track for its worst two-day fall since March as the tech sell-off continues. Today there are reports of SoftBank, which was allegedly "moving" the Nasdaq index. The Japanese financial conglomerate was supposed to buy call options in a move that stoked the fevered rally in big tech stocks before a sharp pullback on Thursday. The increase in the value of the call option positions, which was observed in recent weeks, was a high-profile topic and many companies (such as Tesla or Apple) enjoyed great interest from investors, and hence a huge increase in the share price.
Also mixed data from the US labour market weighed on investors moods. Unemployment rate fell to 8.4%, well below analysts' expectations of 9.8% while the economy added 1.371 million jobs, compared to forecasts of 1.4 million. However the number of people in the U.S. seeing permanent job losses rose by about half a million to 3.4 million, the highest level since 2013. Wall Street is set to finish the week lower after a near 3% increase in the previous week. US markets will be closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
NZDUSD – recently pair broke below and retested the major support at 0.6714. Should downbeat moods prevail, next support at 0.6603 may come into play. This level is additionally strengthened by 50 MA (green line). Source:xStation5This content has been created by XTB S.A. This service is provided by XTB S.A., with its registered office in Warsaw, at Prosta 67, 00-838 Warsaw, Poland, entered in the register of entrepreneurs of the National Court Register (Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy) conducted by District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw, XII Commercial Division of the National Court Register under KRS number 0000217580, REGON number 015803782 and Tax Identification Number (NIP) 527-24-43-955, with the fully paid up share capital in the amount of PLN 5.869.181,75. XTB S.A. conducts brokerage activities on the basis of the license granted by Polish Securities and Exchange Commission on 8th November 2005 No. DDM-M-4021-57-1/2005 and is supervised by Polish Supervision Authority.
