U.S. markets traded slightly higher at the start of trading Friday as investors reacted to disappointing jobs data.
Non-farm payrolls missed expectations – with the U.S. economy adding just 194,000 jobs, vs the 500,000 expected.
On the plus side, the unemployment rate fell to 4.8%, vs 5.1% expected. However, the labor force participation rate remains weak suggesting people do not want to return to work.
Investors expressed some relief that a debt ceiling compromise has been reached, although the markets will need to confront the issue again near year end. The Senate agreed on a temporary billion increase, set to expire in December.
Meanwhile, worries about higher oil and inflation are dampening enthusiasm on Wall Street.
U.S. Dollar and Treasuries
The yield on the 10-year Treasury increased to nearly 1.6% (1.594%) as the dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies. The DXY lost -0.14% trading at $94.08.
Stocks To Watch
Shares of Camber Energy extended their gains in after surging more than 95% on Thursday. Share traded up 20% in early trading to $2.11 a share. The popular meme stock was impacted by the report by a hedge fund Kerrisdale Capital, which took a short position in it. The stock tumbled from $3.82 to $0.91. Now, retail investors seem to be fighting back against the short-sellers.
Shares of ChemoCentryx rose after the company announced FDA approval of its TAVNEOS drug for patients with ANCA vasculitis. Shares gained 71% to trade at $33.37 a share.
Commodities To Watch: Oil, Gold
Oil rose on signs that some industries began switching from gas amid a gas shortage, hitting $79.44 per barrel. I predicted between $75-$100 a barrel before year end as the economy increasingly resumes some normalcy. Meanwhile, other market watchers are also beginning to warn of higher and higher oil prices with some predicting more than $100 per barrel. Gold rose again hitting $1781.80, for a gain of better than 1%.
CRYTPOS
The global crypto market cap stands at $2.33T, a 1.2% increase over the last 24 hours. Bitcoin’s dominance is currently at 44.74%, an increase of 0.33% in the same period.
| Symbol | Price | Chg. % | Market Cap. | |
| Bitcoin | BTC | $55,217.07 | +1.67% | $1.04trillion |
| Etherium | ETH | $3,614.99 | +1.05% | $424.53b |
| Cardano | ADA | $2.27 | -2.20% | $70.56b |
| Ripple | XRP | $1.08 | -0.71% | $47.41b |
| Dogecoin | DOGE | $0.2478 | -0.95% | $32.61b |
