Finance

U.S. government bond yields experienced a notable retreat following the release of the weak September employment figures. The 10-year Treasury yield, which had recently hovered near a 24-year high close to 5.34%, fell to around 5.16% as the unemployment rate moved up unexpectedly to 4.2%. This cooling in fixed-income yields relieved pressure across broader equities markets and lowered near-term expectations for tighter monetary policy.

Crude oil futures ended the week down by 1.53% as international supply anxieties were alleviated by coordinated government action. G-7 and European nations reached an agreement to immediately release 100 million barrels of crude and diesel from their emergency stockpiles. The decision was further influenced by external pressures from the U.S. administration encouraging European nations to draw down inventories to suppress surging global fuel prices.

Spot gold prices slipped by over 0.5% during the session, trading around $4,130 to $4,140 per ounce and capping off a weekly loss of 1.41%. Despite a minor intraday rebound following the soft employment data, the non-yielding metal remained weighed down by a robust U.S. dollar and the broader environment of elevated long-dated Treasury yields. Analysts noted that recent jumps in energy costs had raised long-term inflation fears, altering the traditional macro correlations for safe-haven assets.