News
Thursday, September 03, 2026
What’s happening: US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones index adding almost 300 points.
What happened: Key tech stocks recorded gains, providing a boost to the overall market on Wednesday.
Major US indices snapped a three-session losing streak with some easing in US Treasury yields, while investors waited for the key jobs report.
Why it matters: The benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield had recently surged to its highest level since November 2023 as rising tensions with Iran fuelled inflation concerns. The US and Iran intensified attacks, shattering hopes of a peace deal being signed anytime soon.
Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr warned of interest rate hikes being needed in case inflation does not ease quickly.
Airlines, gold miners and regional banks were among the top performers on Wednesday, while software and services stocks underperformed.
Shares of Dell jumped around 16% on Wednesday after the hardware firm reported better-than-expected quarterly results and increased its annual guidance. Shares of Brown-Forman rose 4% following upbeat earnings for the latest quarter.
Shares of Nvidia jumped 3.2%, while Micron’s stock added 2.4% and Qualcomm gained 2%.
On the economic data front, ADP reported lower-than-expected additions to private sector jobs in August. Private businesses added 38,000 jobs in August, the least since January, missing market expectations of 47,000 and signalling a slowdown in the labour market. New orders for manufactured goods grew 0.9% in July, recovering from June’s 0.2% decline and surpassing market estimates of a 0.6% gain.
The Dow Jones index jumped 295.01 points, or 0.56%, to close at 53,061.89 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 0.46% to settle at 7,666.63, while the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.23% to close at 29,143.33.
What to watch: Investors will continue monitoring developments in the US-Iran situation.
Data on initial jobless claims (1630 UAE Time), balance of trade (1630 UAE Time) and ISM services PMI (1800 UAE Time) will be released today, offering insights into the Fed’s rate decision before the NFP (nonfarm payrolls) report on Friday.
The number of people claiming jobless benefits, which declined by 4,000 to 203,000 in the third week of August, is expected to rise to 205,000 in the latest week. The US trade deficit, which shrank to $73.3 billion in June from $77.6 billion in the previous month, is expected to widen to $90 billion in July. Analysts expect the ISM services PMI to improve to 54.3 in August from 54.1 in July.
Context: The Japanese yen rose versus the US dollar this morning, after recording sharp gains in the previous session.
Details: The Japanese yen extended gains this morning after rising sharply versus the greenback on Wednesday. This marked its biggest surge since the joint intervention by the US and Japan a month ago.
The Japanese yen rose on Wednesday on speculations of central bank policymakers raising interest rates later this month.
Bank of Japan’s board member Hajime Takata said on Wednesday that the central bank should conduct rate hikes nimbly to counter inflationary concerns, rather than remain bound to a fixed semi-annual pace.
Upbeat economic data released this morning also supported the yen. Japan’s S&P Global composite PMI business activity index was revised higher to 53.5 for August from a flash reading of 53.4, compared to July’s level of 52.7. It signalled expansion in the private-sector activity for the 17th month and was the strongest reading since February.
Japan’s S&P Global services PMI climbed to 52.5 in August versus the preliminary reading of 52.3 and up from 51.2 in July.
Crude oil prices continued to rise amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran. Rising crude prices are a modest headwind for the yen, since Japan imports nearly all its oil. The yen has recently struggled to find some support due to the wide gap between US and Japanese interest rates.
Weakness in the US dollar provided further support to the Japanese currency this morning. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, fell more than 0.1% to 99.47.
The USD/JPY forex pair fell around 0.4% to 158.10, while the Nikkei 225 gained 0.15% to trade at 64,423.78 this morning.
What to watch: Data on household spending (0330 UAE Time), coincident index (0900 UAE Time) and leading economic index (0900 UAE Time) will be released on Friday. Japan’s household spending, which tumbled 3.3% year-over-year in June following a 0.4% decline in the previous month, is expected to fall by 1.6% in July. Analysts expect Japan’s coincident economic index to rise to 118.8 in July from 118.5 in June, while Japan’s leading economic index is projected to improve to 116.8 in July from 116.5 in the previous month.
Other Markets: European indices closed lower on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100, DAX 40, CAC 40 and STOXX Europe 600 Index down by 0.30%, 0.50%, 0.26% and 0.24%, respectively.
Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev threatened a direct strike on Germany in rising tensions with Europe. The news sent the USD/RUB pair higher in forex trading this morning.
China’s RatingDog general services PMI surged to 51.4 in August from 50.4 in the previous month. The latest reading topping market estimates of 50.6 exerted pressure on the USD/CNY forex pair.
Australia’s trade surplus contracted to A$1.93 billion in July from A$2.34 billion in June, which sent the AUD/USD pair lower in forex trading this morning.
Singapore’s S&P Global PMI rose to 59.4 in August from 59.2 in the previous month, exerting pressure on the USD/SGD forex pair.
Hong Kong’s S&P Global SAR PMI declined to 49.5 in August from 51.0 in the previous month. Renewed contraction in private sector activity sent the USD/HKD pair higher in forex trading this morning.