Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

U.S. stock futures maintained most of the decline spurred by data Friday that showed the weakest American hiring additions in more than a year. Japanese equities were indicated lower and gold rallied with the euro.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures retreated 0.8 percent from their close on April 2 as of 9:11 a.m. in Tokyo, maintaining most of the 1 percent decline in abbreviated trading Friday. Japan’s Topix index dropped 0.7 percent after the poor jobs reading boosted the yen. Gold rallied 0.9 percent, while the euro climbed 0.2 percent to $1.0990. Oil added 2.1 percent in New York as Saudi Arabia raised pricing for all May sales to Asia.

The U.S. currency tumbled with equities futures on Friday, while Treasuries surged as the payrolls report damped the outlook for the timing of an interest-rate increase by the Federal Reserve. The 126,000 workers added in March was fewer than the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey and the lowest monthly total since December 2013. New York Fed President William C. Dudley speaks today.

“The impact of the stronger dollar and weaker oil show the U.S. economy has hit a soft patch,” said Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo. “First-quarter earnings and gross domestic product probably weren’t very good. The first U.S. rate hike will now probably be after September.”

U.S. exchanges reopen at 9:30 a.m. on Monday in New York after being closed for the Good Friday holiday.

Revised Down

Economic reports have lagged analyst forecasts since early January, with the Bloomberg Eco U.S. Surprise Index falling to its weakest reading since 2009 last month. Minutes of the Fed’s latest meeting, after which it noted that “growth has moderated somewhat,” are due for release Wednesday.

The increase in payrolls followed a 264,000 gain a month earlier that was smaller than first reported, according to the jobs report. While investors have occasionally welcomed weaker data on grounds they delayed a Fed interest rate boost, concern is building that too weak an expansion will worsen a drop in corporate profits.

“There’s no doubt it is a bad report and makes it much less likely the Fed will be ready to go by June,” wrote Elsa Lignos, a senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets LLC, in a note dated April 6.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1 percent in early Asian trade, heading lower for a fourth day, the longest losing streak since July. The greenback was weaker against 12 of 16 major peers.

Japan Stocks

The Topix is falling after capping a 10th weekly advance in 11 weeks on Friday. All but one of the 33 industry groups on the gauge retreated Monday. Asahi Co. plunged 7.2 percent after reporting a 37 percent drop in net income. The yen traded at 118.93 Monday after jumping 0.6 percent in the wake of the jobs report.

South Korea’s Kospi index swung between gains and losses. Markets in Hong Kong, mainland China, Australia and New Zealand are closed today.

Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicks off the U.S. earnings season this week. Profits for S&P 500 companies are forecast to fall 5.8 percent in the first quarter as results were buffeted by tumbling oil prices and a stronger dollar. Investors may face the longest stretch of declines since the financial crisis, with slumps of 4.2 percent and 1 percent over the second and third quarters, according to analyst estimates.

Earnings Wariness

“Overall we would avoid making any strong conclusions regarding the state of the economy, but the fact that this weak report follows a number of other poor data points means that both bond and equity markets will be very sensitive to any signs of weakness in the upcoming earnings season,” wrote Michael Shaoul, who helps oversee $10 billion as chief executive officer of Marketfield Asset Management in New York.

West Texas Intermediate crude traded at $50.16 a barrel. Brent rose 1.7 percent to $55.88 in London, recovering from a 3.8 percent tumble after Iran and six countries, including the U.S., agreed on a framework accord on April 2 over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program.

State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co. narrowed the discount for its Arab Light grade to Asia to the least since December, setting the crude at a discount of 60 cents a barrel to the regional benchmark, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The May pricing is 30 cents higher than in April. The value of all U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia plunged 61 percent in the first two months of 2015, according to data last week.

Dubai stocks posted their biggest advance in more than three weeks, leading gains in Gulf Cooperation Council markets, as rebels in Yemen retreated from the port city of Aden. Iran was the United Arab Emirates’ fourth-biggest trading partner in 2013, accounting for almost $32 billion of imports and exports, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The DFM General Index climbed 1.4 percent to 3,665.56, its highest close since March 12. Qatar’s QE Index added 0.6 percent and Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index rose 0.1 percent. The Tehran Stock Exchange’s main index jumped 3.5 percent.