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Asia-Pacific markets traded sharply lower on Friday, tracking Wall Street's latest sell-off, with Japan's Nikkei 225 leading the losses. The bearish market sentiment was seemingly fueled by fresh data indicating uncertainty surrounding both the labor market and monetary policy, as well as corporate earnings reports released throughout the week.
Although the Federal Reserve kept its main interest rate unchanged, its chairman, Jerome Powell, hinted during the press conference that a rate cut coul
could be considered by September if inflation continues to decrease. This has led investors to question whether the Fed may be acting too late in cutting interest rates
The Japanese yen moved higher to touch its highest level against the greenback since mid-March on Friday following the release of the United States nonfarm employment data for July which showed cooling of the country's labor market and raised prospects for a potential rate cut in September.
The United States is making plans to send more combat aircraft to the Middle East amid ever-rising tensions between Israel and other countries in the region, the New York Times reported on Friday. Anonymous military officials said the US is working on "calibrating" its measures to "send enough of the right types of aircraft as quickly as possible to help defend Israel without appearing to escalate the conflict."
New orders for manufactured goods in the United States saw a monthly decline of 3.3% or $19.1 billion to land at $564.2 billion in June, the US Census Bureau said in its report published on Friday. The figure came in lower than analysts predicted.
Shipments of manufactured durable goods rose by 1.2% or $3.4 billion to $287.9 billion. Meanwhile, unfilled orders dropped by 1.4% or $19.0 billion to $1,383.9 billion.