A weak jobs report rattled markets on Friday as the widening Middle East conflict pushed oil higher and reignited inflation concerns. The S&P 500 fell 1.3%, capping its worst week since October, with financials hit hard after BlackRock plunged 7.7% following limits on withdrawals from its HPS private credit fund. Chipmakers also slid after Oracle and OpenAI scrapped plans to expand an AI data centre in Texas. US nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000, one of the largest declines since the pandemic, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. The shock miss has unsettled policymakers’ expectations of a stable labour market and raised fears that rising oil prices combined with weakening jobs growth could revive stagflation concerns, a bad scenario for stocks although optimism towards more Fed rate cuts lifted.
- No change, we believe US stocks are a coin toss here but remain keen buyers around the 6500 area, or ~5% lower, for a likely great 2026 risk/reward buying opportunity.
MM is neutral towards the S&P 500 around 6750
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