Finance

The U.S. Labor Department reported a surprise reduction of 23,000 nonfarm payroll jobs for July, falling drastically short of economist forecasts predicting expansion. Meanwhile, the headline unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.1%, though analysts noted this shift was heavily influenced by a shrinking labor force participation rate. The muted employment metrics immediately led financial markets to price out a potential interest rate hike at the Federal Reserve's upcoming September meeting.

Strong quarterly financial statements continued to support equities, led by collaboration software maker Atlassian, which skyrocketed 35.3% in its largest-ever daily percentage gain following a revenue beat. Semiconductor firm Microchip Technology also advanced 13.9% on favorable forecasting, and vacation rental platform Airbnb rose 17.4%. Conversely, ad-tech firm Trade Desk suffered a sharp 21.9% decline after issuing lower-than-anticipated revenue guidance for the subsequent quarter.

Bond yields declined across the board following the soft employment data, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield sliding to 4.64%. The U.S. dollar index similarly retreated by 0.3% to settle at 99.61 amid pared-back rate expectations. In response to the weakening dollar and macroeconomic shifts, gold prices gained roughly 7.0% over the week to reach a six-week high, closing Friday up 2.6% at $4,414 an ounce.