[Good Morning Stock Market] Signs of US Employment Weakening... "Foreign Investors' Risk Aversion Sentiment to Increase"

With U.S. private employment increasing at its slowest pace in three and a half years, signaling consecutive signs of weakening employment, the New York stock market closed mixed, and on the 6th, it was forecasted that foreign investors' risk-averse investment sentiment would strengthen in the domestic stock market.

On the 5th (local time), in the New York stock market, the blue-chip-focused Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 40,755.75, down 219.22 points (0.54%) from the previous trading day. The large-cap-focused S&P 500 index fell 16.66 points (0.3%) to 5,503.41, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq index rose 43.37 points (0.25%) to close at 17,127.66.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The Dow Jones index recorded the largest decline among major indices as healthcare, financials, and industrials fell more than 1%, whereas the Nasdaq index ended higher, supported by gains in Amazon and Tesla. Most large-cap tech stocks by market capitalization showed upward trends. Tesla rose 4.9% after announcing it will launch a Full Self-Driving (FSD) support program in Europe and China in Q1 next year. Amazon increased by 2.6%, and Apple, Nvidia, Meta, and Alphabet closed up about 1%. US Steel rebounded 2.01% after plummeting 17.47% the previous day on news that the Joe Biden administration would ban the sale of Nippon Steel.

Kim Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "The U.S. stock market saw a slew of indicators revealing labor market conditions. The market was weighed down by signs of weakening rather than improvement throughout the session," adding, "The number of layoffs in the private sector in August rose 193% compared to the previous month, marking the highest figure since 2009, excluding the crash caused by COVID-19 in 2020." Employment data from U.S. employment information firm Automatic Data Processing (ADP) recorded 99,000 jobs, significantly below expectations and the lowest since January 2021.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Korea Index Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) fell 0.7%, while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF rose 0.1%. Eurex KOSPI 200 futures closed up 0.5%.

Regarding the domestic stock market, researcher Kim Seok-hwan forecasted, "Signs of weakening in the U.S. labor market are expected to strengthen foreign investors' risk-averse investment sentiment," and "The cautious sentiment toward last month's employment report results will suppress investment sentiment during the trading session."

Meanwhile, the 1-month Non-Deliverable Forward (NDF) won-dollar exchange rate in New York stood at 1,331 won, and the won-dollar exchange rate is expected to start the day down 3 won.