Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, after U.S. stocks slid on jobs fears.

ASX futures were down 1.45% or 115 points as of 8:00am on Monday, suggesting a lower open.

U.S. stocks slid as a weaker-than-expected July jobs report fuelled concerns over the U.S. economy and as big corporations report disappointing results.

The DJIA lost 1.5% to 39,737 and was down 2.1% for the week. Nasdaq fell 2.4% and 3.4% for the week, to 16,776, while the S&P 500 lost 1.8% and 2.1% for the week, to 5,347.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 3.4% to US$76.81 a barrel, while gold was down 0.1% at US$2,443.24.

The Australian dollar was at 65.09 US cents.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower as stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region followed Wall Street's selloff overnight. The absence of more stimulus from the Chinese authorities to boost the economy also continues to weigh on sentiment. Auto and energy stocks led the session's losses. Ningbo Tuopu and BYD dropped 4.4% and 3.9%, respectively. Cnooc was down 3.3%. Meanwhile, food and pharmaceutical stocks gained. Hangzhou Tigermed Consulting, up 4.6%, led the gains on the CSI300 Index. Muyuan Foodstuff and Wens Foodstuff Group rose 1.8% and 2.4%, respectively. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.9% lower at 2,905.34, the Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 1.3% and the ChiNext Price Index fell 1.7%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 2.1% lower at 16,945.51, tracking broad regional losses. The main theme overnight was risk-off sentiment as equities fell across the board after weak U.S. economic data, Commerzbank Research said in a note. Among worst performers, Wharf REIC fell 4.9%, Meituan lost 4.8% and Galaxy Entertainment shed 4.6%. Meanwhile, WuXi AppTec gained 4.75%, Budweiser Brewing rose 2.9% and China Unicom (Hong Kong) added 1.5%. The Hang Seng Tech Index closed 2.6% lower.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed 5.8% lower at 35,909.70, posting its biggest percentage-point drop since March 2020. A stronger yen and signs of cooling U.S. economy hit chip-related and financial stocks especially hard. Tokyo Electron dropped 12% and Daiwa Securities Group fell 19%. Eastern time. Earnings remained in focus. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield fell 7.5 basis points to 0.955%.

India's Sensex ended 1.1% lower at 80,981.95 amid a global selloff as softer U.S. economic data and downbeat tech earnings contributed to a risk-off mood. Steel and tech stocks led declines, with Tata Steel dropping 3.0% and JSW Steel falling 3.9%. Infosys was 1.7% lower and HCL Technologies fell 1.8%. Gainers included HDFC Bank, which added 1.2%, and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, which closed 0.95% higher.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. fell Friday, as the FTSE 100 Index declined 1.3% to 8174.71.

Among large companies, Carnival PLC posted the largest decline, dropping 8.5%, followed by shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies PLC, which dropped 8.0%. Shares of CMC Markets PLC dropped 7.4%.

International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. was the biggest gainer during the session, gaining 4.7%, and Haleon PLC gained 2.7%. United Utilities Group PLC rounded out the top three movers on Friday, as shares gained 2.5%.

In other parts of Europe markets closed lower, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index down 2.7% to 497.85, Germany's DAX dropped 2.3% to 17,661.22 and France's CAC 40 fell 1.6% to 7,251.80.

North America

U.S. stocks slid as a weaker-than-expected July jobs report fueled concerns over the U.S. economy and as big corporations report disappointing results.

The DJIA lost 1.5% to 39,737 and was down 2.1% for the week. Nasdaq fell 2.4% and 3.4% for the week, to 16,776, while the S&P 500 lost 1.8% and 2.1% for the week, to 5,347.

Intel fell 26% after the chipmaker said it would lay off more than 15,000 people in coming months. Insurer Prudential lost 10% after it missed expectations.

The Russell 2000 fell 3.5% on Friday and 6.7% for the week, to 2,109.

Friday was all about jobs: The U.S. economy isn't adding as many, Intel is cutting them, and the Federal Reserve's just got a lot harder.

With the Fed saying on Wednesday it would wait until its next meeting in September to potentially make its first rate cut in years, it arguably left the market vulnerable to weak economic data in the meantime.

And, of course, what can go wrong often immediately does. The Friday jobs report showed employment growth slowing sharply in July, and the unemployment rate rising to 4.3%, the highest level since 2021.

Intel's disappointing quarterly earnings report also seemed to underscore what the market had been considering all week, which is that a surge in artificial-intelligence spending is not a tide lifting all boats the same. The longtime chip-making giant is planning thousands of job cuts and will pause its dividend payments. What's good for Nvidia, it seems, is not as good for everyone. Intel was down 26%.

Another upshot of the day's action is that markets are betting the Fed cuts even deeper, with futures at one point pricing in a more-than-70% chance of a half-point cut in September, rather than the minimal quarter-point move. Ten-year Treasury yields ended their trading day at 3.795%, the lowest finish in 2024. The 0.4 percentage point drop in yield over the week was the biggest move in a week since March 2020.

There were some indications of how lower rates might help out some sectors. Mortgage lender Rocket zoomed up 12%, as falling long-term Treasury yields should make home loans cheaper, too.