Markets around the region traded lower on Friday, July 3 in the wake of Wall Street’s overnight plunge. On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrials Average index fell 223 points or 2.6% to its lowest close in six weeks, as sentiment was soured by a weak jobs report.

The US unemployment rate hit a 26-year high of 9.5% in June, raising fears that the road to recovery will be protracted and bumpy. Some 467,000 jobs were cut in June, worse than expectations of 363,000. This raised the jobless rate from 9.4% in May to 9.5%.

The report disappointed investors looking towards positive signs to sustain the recovery process and stock market momentum. It suggests that US consumers are likely to remain cautious and will continue to limit spending in the wake of continuing job losses and insecurity.

Indeed, US consumer spending has been weak in the last few months despite rising income (due to tax incentives from stimulus packages) and consumer confidence. Consumers continue to build up their savings to repair battered balance sheets. As consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the US economy and drives Asian exports, this will have an impact on the recovery process. 

The unemployment situation in Europe also looks grim. Unemployment in the euro-zone’s 16 countries spiked to a ten-year high of 9.5% in May, from 9.3% in April.

There were, however, also some positive economic signals. US May factory orders rose 1.2%, better than market expectations of 0.8%. On Wednesday, US economic data also showed more stable manufacturing activity and the fourth consecutive monthly rise in pending home sales.

Back home, the KLCI was in negative territory throughout the day. It opened about 11 points lower, but pared some of its losses to close 6 points down at 1,072.7. Market breadth was negative for much of the day, but ended even. Trading volume stood at 1.1 billion shares.

The most actively traded stocks include Talam, KNM, Time, Compugates, UEM Land, Time dotCom ans Axiata. Major gainers include Nestle, Tenaga and MISC. Losers include IJM, Shell and Hong Leong Bank.