4:05pm: Rate cut eyed
US stocks finished the week on a sour note despite weaker-than-expected jobs data all but locking in a rate cut at the Fed’s September meeting.
The Dow Jones fell 0.5% to 45,400 points while the S&P 500 was down 0.3% at 6,481 points. The Nasdaq slipped 7 points to 21,700 points.
3:46pm: Proactive news headlines
- Global digital asset exchange-traded products (ETPs) ended August 2025 with $205.23 billion in assets under management (AUM), marking the second consecutive month above the $200 billion threshold, an analysis from Fineqia International Inc (CSE:FNQ, OTC:FNQQF) has shown.
- Nano One Materials Corp (TSX:NANO, OTC:NNOMF) announced an equity distribution agreement with Canaccord Genuity Corp and Roth Canada to establish an at-the-market (ATM) equity issuance program that may distribute up to C$15 million worth of Nano One Materials common shares from time to time.
- GoviEx Uranium Inc (TSX-V:GXU, OTCQB:GVXXF) announced that securityholders representing more than 40% of its outstanding securities have entered into binding voting support agreements in favor of its planned reverse takeover of Tombador Iron.
- Alvopetro Energy Ltd (TSX-V:ALV, OTC:ALVOF) reported August sales volumes of 2,375 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), based on field estimates.
2:32pm: Market movers
- Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ:LULU) shares tumbled as the athletic apparel firm downwardly revised its full-year earnings guidance, citing challenges in its US business.
- Docusign (NASDAQ: DOCU) shares gained nearly 7% on Friday after the digital agreements and eSignatures provider’s fiscal 2026 second-quarter financial results surpassed analyst expectations.
- Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO, ETR:1YD) shares shot up as much as 15% in early trading on Friday after the semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions provider reported better-than-expected financial results for its third quarter 2025.
- Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has proposed a historic compensation plan for its CEO Elon Musk that could be worth approximately $1 trillion if he meets performance targets over the next decade, sending its shares higher.
1:01pm: OpenAI to make own chips
OpenAI is preparing to begin mass production of its first artificial intelligence chips in 2026, partnering with semiconductor giant Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO, ETR:1YD), the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The move is expected to reduce the company’s reliance on Nvidia while boosting OpenAI’s internal computational infrastructure.
OpenAI noted the new chip is intended exclusively for in-house use and is not for commercial sale.
During its third quarter earnings call, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan revealed that it had received $10 billion in orders from a new, unnamed client for custom AI chips.
11:45am: Stocks reverse course
After initially moving higher, US stocks pulled back in the wake of Friday's jobs report. The Dow Jones was down 0.5%, the S&P 500 fell 0.45 and the Nasdaq edged 0.1% lower late morning.
“An initially positive reaction to today’s weak payrolls report has given way to some classic ‘buy the rumour, sell the fact’ action in Friday’s afternoon trading," IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said.
"Traders are battling a mix of relief that today’s report confirms a September rate cut while being worried that weak period of job growth spells stagflation ahead.”
11:08am: Tesla proposes historic compensation plan
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has proposed a historic compensation plan for its CEO Elon Musk that could be worth approximately $1 trillion if he meets performance targets over the next decade.
The package, which shareholders will vote on in November, includes 12 tranches of stock awards Musk will receive only if Tesla hits extraordinary milestones.
These include reaching a market capitalization of $8.5 trillion, roughly eight times its current valuation, as well as massive gains in profitability, vehicle production, and new business lines in artificial intelligence and robotics.
Musk must remain with Tesla for at least a decade to unlock the awards.
If successful, the plan would grant him more than 423 million additional shares, boosting his ownership from about 13% to nearly 29% and significantly increasing his voting power.
He would not receive any salary or cash bonuses; all compensation is equity-based.
9:50am: Jobs surprise
US stocks edged higher on Friday as the latest nonfarm payrolls report showed only 22,000 jobs were created in August, far fewer than the 75,000 expected.
The Nasdaq added 0.6%, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% and the Dow Jones gained 0.2% in early trade.
Kathleen Brooks, XTB research director, noted that August is typically a slow month for payrolls but Friday’s report was worse than expected.
“The fact that the job losses were broad-based is leading to fears of a slowdown,” Brooks said.
In response, the Fed Fund Futures market is now pricing in more than a 25 basis point interest rate cut this month, with calls likely to grow for a 50 basis point cut.
“Overall, this payrolls report leads to lots of questions about the actual strength of the US economy and what is driving the rapid slowdown in hiring,” Brooks said.
“Thus, it could be a volatile few days for financial markets, as this report sets the scene for a mega rate cut from the Fed on 17th September.”
8:45pm: Payrolls miss sends Treasury yields falling, stocks mixed
US Treasury yields fell further and Wall Street stock futures were pointing to a mixed start after US jobs data came in worse than expected.
Much fewer new jobs were created in the US economy in August, sending the unemployment rate rising to 4.3% from 4.2%.
Just 22,000 jobs were added, the non-farm payrolls report revealed, much lower than the 73K the month before and 75K that the market expected.
Private payrolls came in at 38k, well below the forecast 75K and the previous 83K.
Government payrolls fell 16K, down from a 10K decline in July.
US average hourly earnings rose 0.3% month-on-month, as expected, with wages rising 3.7% year-on-year, which was down from 3.9% in July and below the 3.8% earnings growth forecast.
Dow Jones futures are down 0.3%, those for the S&P 500 are flat and Nasdaq 100 futures are up 0.5%.
The yield on the US 2-year government bond is down almost 9 basis points to under 3.51% and the 10-year eased almost 7 basis points to under 4.095%, the lowest since early April.
The 30-yr yield dropped 5 basis points to below 4.81%, the lowest in just over a month.
A reminder that a month ago, Donald Trump had the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics sacked following a disappointing set of NFPs, including big downward revisions to previous months' figures.
BLS head Erika McEntarfer was replaced by Trump loyalist EJ Antoni.
8:02am: Solid gains predicted ahead of NFPs
Wall Street is expected to open mostly higher on Friday ahead of the release of August's non-farm payrolls, due for release ahead of the market open.
Futures for the Nasdaq were up 0.5%, with those for the S&P 500 gaining 0.2% as investors anticipated the jobs numbers. Dow Jones futures were 0.2% weaker.
The much-watched NFP report comes ahead of US consumer inflation numbers next week and then the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision the following week. It follows a weaker-than-expected private-sector ADP report on Thursday, with private employment rising 54,000 in August, below the 68,000 expected.
"Ahead of today's start to this run, markets have put in a strong performance over the past 24 hours, after soft data meant investors became increasingly convinced that the Fed would cut rates this month," commented Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid. "Those prints pointed to growing weakness in the US labour market, which is top of mind given that last month’s jobs report was unexpectedly bad."
In terms of the monthly non-farm payrolls report, Reid noted that Deutsche's US economists expect the addition of more than 100,000 jobs for August, following gains of over 73,000 a month in July, with the unemployment rate staying at 4.2%.
"However, the revisions will be of massive importance after last month saw the biggest downward revisions in over 5 years to the prior two months," he added. "As you will no doubt remember, this contributed to BLS chief Erika McEntaref losing her job hours after the release."
In London, the FTSE 100 traded 0.2% firmer on Friday morning, while Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.3% and the Paris CAC 40 added less than 0.1%.
Asian markets were mostly higher, with Tokyo's Nikkei 225 jumping 1%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rallying 1.4% and Shanghai's SSE Composite climbing 1.2%. In India, Mumbai's BSE Sensex closed marginally lower, while Australia's ASX gained 0.5%.