Australian shares lost ground for the fifth time in six sessions as Japanese indices extended their worst run in two years, crude oil traded below US$44 a barrel and the jobless rate hit a three-year low.
At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 15 points or 0.3% weaker at 5213 as soft US equity futures dampened enthusiasm for shares at ten-week lows. Dow futures were recently off 12 points or 0.07% after a tentative rally on Wall Street fizzled out overnight. The Dow closed 32 points or 0.18% lower.
“The markets are under pressure,” James Audiss, senior wealth manager at Shaw and Partners, told Bloomberg. "Volatility is here to stay going into the back-end of the year with central bank meetings and the US election coming up.”
Japan's Nikkei was down 1.21% and on course for a seventh straight loss for the first time since 2014. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was ahead 0.34%. China's Shanghai Composite was shuttered for a public holiday.
Back home, the outlook for rates was muddied by mixed employment data. While the jobless rate ticked down to 5.6% last month, a three-year low, from 5.7% in July, the decline was largely attributed to a drop in the participation rate as the economy shed 3,900 jobs.
"Very messy numbers," Ben Jarman of JPMorgan told Fairfax. "Unemployment was a bit lower but with a lower participation rate it isn't exactly a really positive story. We still have relatively softer jobs growth this year relative to late last year and part-time work is dominating."
The gold sector rose 0.6%, metals & mining 0.3% and materials 0.1%. Utilities was the worst of the sectors at -1.8%, followed by energy -1.7% and industrials -1.2%.
Crude oil futures bounced nine cents or 0.21% this morning to US$43.67 a barrel after settling just off a two-week low overnight. Gold futures were $1.70 or 0.13% higher at US$1,327.80 an ounce. The dollar was buying 74.62 US cents.
The jobless rate is down, but there aren't enough working hours for those that want them. Doesn't really help the RBA. We're becoming a nation of unwilling part-timers. Working less is supposed to make us happier, but that only works if you have enough cash to enjoy the spare time. Speaking of cash, things have picked up for me with the improvement in volatility, but it's very much a case of making enough on the wins to outweigh losses. Solid wins today in FCT and DLE to offset a likely loss in APA - in too early there. Speculator in AUZ.
