Finance

The U.S. economy unexpectedly shed 23,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in July, contrasting sharply with consensus projections that anticipated growth. This negative labor indicator caused Treasury yields to retreat as market participants adjusted expectations, increasingly betting that the Federal Reserve will defer upcoming interest rate increases.

With the vast majority of S&P 500 constituent companies having reported their second-quarter financial results, profit margins have climbed to an unprecedented 16.7%. The overall earnings growth rate for the index is tracking at its highest level since mid-2021, bolstered significantly by dominant performance across massive technology enterprises.

Gold prices surged roughly 7% over the course of the week, marking its most robust weekly acceleration since mid-January and nearing all-time highs. The physical commodities sector found immense support from a sliding U.S. dollar and cooling bond yields, noticeably outperforming major cryptocurrency assets over the same period.