Market Update 05/02/2025

Wall Street showed an overall rebound. The Nasdaq index led the gains, rising 1.1%; the S&P 500 index increased by 0.6%; and the Dow Jones index edged up 0.2%. Asian stock markets performed unevenly. The Hang Seng index surged 2.8%, the Nikkei index rose 0.7%, while the Shenzhen 300 index fell 0.4%. Australia’s ASX 200 index slightly decreased by 0.1%, mainly dragged down by the consumer discretionary and real estate sectors. European stock markets generally opened lower but gradually recovered later. Germany’s DAX index and France’s CAC index rose 0.4% and 0.7% respectively, while the UK’s FTSE 100 index closed slightly lower. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield first fell and then rose, ultimately climbing to 4.57%.

Market reports suggested that President Trump would sign an executive order aimed at restoring “maximum pressure” on Iran, cutting off all paths to nuclear weapons, and reducing Iranian oil exports to zero. The White House also reported that Trump and China would have a conversation later that day. Wall Street reacted positively to this news.

The U.S. JOLTS Job Openings data was released, with the latest figure at 7.6 million, lower than the previously upwardly revised 8.158 million and the expected 8 million. Additionally, December factory orders decreased by 0.9%, worse than the expected 0.8% decline, while durable goods orders were confirmed to have fallen by 2.2%, in line with expectations.

The dollar weakened overall, depreciating against most major currencies. The AUD/USD rebounded from an earlier low of 0.6171 after China announced tariffs, reaching as high as 0.6259. The USD/JPY rate fell from a high of 155.515 to around 154.18. Both the euro and the pound appreciated against the dollar, trading near 1.0387 and 1.2492 respectively.