Gold gains as weak US jobs report dims prospects for Fed rate hike
Gold prices experienced an uptick on Friday following a U.S. jobs report that was weaker than anticipated, which reduced expectations for interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve.
Spot gold saw a rise of 1.67%, reaching $4,191.69 an ounce, marking its first weekly gain in five weeks, based on data from LSEG.
According to State Street Investment Management, there could be more room for gold to increase after a significant drop of 11.7% in June, as higher opportunity costs and a stronger dollar affected market sentiment.
The firm maintains a target price of $5,000 an ounce by early 2027. Intriguingly, they predict that 70% of the time, prices could adjust to the range of $4,750 to $5,500 over the next six to nine months.
Despite facing some tactical challenges that might keep gold trading between $4,000 and $4,750, State Street expects the post-COVID structural support for the metal to hold, along with solid price support around $3,750 to $4,000.
Asian tech stocks widen decline as US chip recession weighs on sector
Asian tech stocks continued to decline on Thursday, following another poor session for U.S. semiconductor companies as investors steered away from artificial intelligence stocks.
Japanese chip equipment maker Laser Tech dropped by 5.8%, while Renesas Electronics fell by 6.7%, and Tokyo Electron saw a decline of nearly 4%. Meanwhile, Softbank Group’s big tech investments fell by 5.2%.
In South Korea, tech stocks were also impacted, with semiconductor giant SK Hynix down 1.9% and SK Square dropping 5.4%. Additionally, battery maker Samsung SDI fell over 8%, and electronics manufacturer LG Electronics decreased by more than 6%.
Interestingly, Samsung Electronics rose by 1.4%, bouncing back slightly after reports surfaced that AI startup Anthropic was in discussions with them about manufacturing custom AI chips.
Semiconductor recession weighs on market conditions, with mixed developments in Asian markets
Asian-Pacific markets showed mixed results on Friday as investors continued moving away from tech stocks in response to declines in the U.S.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei Stock Average fell by 0.86%, but the TOPIX index managed to rise by 0.34%. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi increased by 0.97%, whereas the Kosdaq index dipped by 1.12%.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 saw a modest increase of 0.42%.
In Hong Kong, futures for the Hang Seng Index opened at 23,061, showing a slight rise from the previous close of 23,055.03.
