Synopsis
Asian stocks edged higher after two days of declines as investors awaited U.S. jobs data and a possible Supreme Court ruling on President Trump’s tariffs. Money has shifted from tech giants to smaller companies, with the Russell 2000 index outperforming the Nasdaq 100. U.S. jobs data will provide clues on where the Federal Reserve’s interest rates are moving.
TIL CreationsJobs data will help inform the direction of US interest rates. Money markets are pricing in at least two quarter-point cuts from the Fed in 2026.
Asian stocks edged higher at the open after their first two-day decline of the year, as investors braced for Friday’s U.S. jobs report and a possible Supreme Court ruling on President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Stocks opened higher in Japan and Australia, while South Korea lagged. A flat day for the S&P 500 on Thursday masked sales in tech giants such as Nvidia Corp. Treasury futures rose slightly and mortgage-backed securities rallied after Trump said he was directing the purchase of $200 billion in mortgage bonds.
Stocks’ rebound from April’s tariff slump faces a key test of the court ruling, just as investors prepare for US employment data this will provide clues about the Federal Reserve’s interest rate trajectory. In a defensive shift, money has flowed away from highly valued tech giants to smaller companies, tempering the gains driven by AI in recent years.
“It’s unclear at this stage whether this is just a pause or a complete rotation,” said Paul Ticu of Calamos Investments. “Markets are still trying to find direction. »
The Russell 2000 index of U.S. small companies beat the Nasdaq 100 by about 4 percentage points in the first five sessions of 2026, the second-best outperformance on record at the start of the year.
Investors will be on guard as US jobs data is expected to be released later on Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast that 70,000 new jobs were created in the US economy in December, slightly more than the previous month, while the unemployment rate is expected to fall to 4.5%.
Jobs data will help inform the direction of US interest rates. Money markets are pricing in at least two quarter-point cuts from the Fed in 2026.
The Supreme Court is also set to decide the fate of most of Trump’s tariffs as early as Friday. Hundreds of companies have already lined up in hopes of recouping their share of the billions of dollars in duties paid so far.
In other parts of the market, the dollar held onto gains from the previous session, while oil extended gains as investors monitored developments in Venezuela and Iran. Silver fell further from its record high set earlier in the week, while gold remained stable.
Mortgage bonds rose and shares of real estate lenders rallied after Trump’s decision to cut the cost of housing. There are approximately $9 trillion in agency mortgage bonds outstanding.
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(What’s moving Sensex And Clever Track latest market news, stock market advice, Budget 2025, Equity market on the 2025 budget And expert adviceon AND Markets. Additionally, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For the fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stock market alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .)
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Most trending stocks: SBI share price, Axis Bank share price, HDFC Bank share price, Infosys share price, Wipro stock price, NTPC stock price
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