THE MARKETS: Iran’s demands pushed oil up – the US labor market is nervous

Asian stock markets moved inconsistently on Friday, after Wall Street’s key stock market indices ended the previous day in decline.

The market’s nervousness about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz continues, and in addition, eyes turn to what the US labor market report to be published in the afternoon may indicate about future interest rate decisions by the US central bank.

South Korea’s Kospi, which regularly fluctuates along with artificial intelligence-related stocks, was down 0.8 percent after 8:00 a.m. Finnish time. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was down 0.4 percent, but the broader Topix was up 0.3 percent.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 index was up 1.0 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.2 percent.

The previous day, there was slight optimism in the market about the easing of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, when it was reported that Iran and Oman had drawn up a preliminary agreement on traffic passing through the strait.

On Friday, however, the information that Iran would still be trying to block the passage of US and Israeli ships through the Strait of Hormuz is digested. In addition to that, Iran is planning to collect additional compensation from the ships of other countries considered hostile.

As a result of the news, the price of Brent crude oil was up 1.6 percent at the time of the review at nearly 84 dollars per barrel, after it was below 80 dollars per barrel the previous day. However, the Brent reference price is still nearly seven percent below last Friday’s reading.

The labor market report indicates the Fed’s monetary policy

The most interesting statistical release on Friday is the broad labor market report of the United States, which will be published at 4:30 PM Finnish time, from which the market will look for indications of the future monetary policy of the US central bank, the Fed.

Stronger-than-expected non-farm payrolls would support the view that interest rates will remain high for longer, according to Bloomberg.

Investment service company Invesco market strategist commented to Bloomberg that due to the uncertainty related to the US labor market, investors may reduce their risky investments and repatriate profits before the employment figures are released.

At the time of review, the futures anticipating European stock market openings were gently in the red. US stock index futures are trading close to the previous day’s closing readings.