US Jobs Data Tops Estimates; Dollar Gains

Market indicators:

• Gold slipped $22 to $4065
• US 10-year yields fell 2.4 bps to 4.86%
• WTI crude oil held steady at $90.50
• S&P 500 rose 0.3%
• US dollar led, Australian dollar lagged

Positive news arrived after the closing bell: OpenAI wrapped up an $11 billion funding round at a $1.25 trillion valuation. The Financial Times also reported that Anthropic is pressing ahead with its IPO plans for this month, aiming to raise $80-100 billion at a valuation of $1.25-1.75 trillion. Barring any unexpected shocks, that should provide support for markets next week.

On Friday, a strong non-farm payrolls report, with broad-based gains, boosted the dollar. Daly's subsequent remarks reinforced the hawkish reading of the data. On the other side, Canada released another soft jobs report, prompting economists to question whether another rate hike this year is justified.

The day's focus was on technology, memory, and neocloud stocks, which rebounded despite a report that Microsoft is scaling back third-party data center rentals. That news initially weighed on shares, but buyers held the line. The session opened with expectations of a big bounce after Thursday's rout, but memory stock gains were quickly tempered.

On the Iran front, more positive headlines emerged but were not enough to meaningfully pressure oil. The diplomatic effort appears already priced in, and something more concrete will be needed to

Looking ahead to next week, earnings season continues with CoreWeave on Tuesday and Nebius on Thursday, among others.