Stock markets in the U.S. and beyond will await investors’ reactions to the week’s U.S. jobs numbers on Friday.
SPX 500 – Daily Chart
The price of the SPX 500 was rejected at the 6,512 resistance area, but there was some late buying on Friday.
Markets had been waiting for a signal that a rate cut was a done deal in September for the Federal Reserve. Some even looked to the prospect of a 50 basis point cut, but they ended up with a signal of real weakness in the U.S. economy. Economists will now be looking at the bigger picture as a series of rate cuts may not be the boost that was expected, and the recent market rally could be seen as overdone.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released on Friday, highlighted a rise in unemployment rates as job growth slowed sharply. The latest update showed that unemployment in the U.S. economy increased to 4.3% in August, up from 4.2% in July 2025. The economy could only add 22,000 jobs in August, a big drop from 79,000 in July.
The Federal Reserve is set to meet later this month, on September 16-17, to decide on the benchmark interest rate for the economy.
Investors will now await the Fed’s next FOMC decision for a potential interest rate cut. The Fed stated in its last meeting that it needed more time and data to make a decision. In that statement, Chairman Jerome Powell said the nation’s inflation was still at a ‘somewhat elevated’ level, but the unemployment rate remained low. That has now deteriorated with the latest job numbers. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the markets are predicting a 87.8% chance of a rate cut in September.
Tech giant Oracle has earnings to be released on Tuesday, and recent moves by the company highlight one of the issues with the U.S. jobs market. Oracle has cut around 3,000 jobs, joining the likes of Microsoft, which has cut 15,000 workers globally since May as it pours $80 billion into AI spending.
