Global shares have held near three-week lows, the dollar has nursed losses and crude oil has languished near 2024’s lows as investors wait for US jobs data that could decide the size and speed of coming rate cuts in the world’s largest economy.

Oil prices are staring down their worst week in more than a year, with their near-term fate depending on the US payrolls report due later in the day.

European shares opened lower on Friday and slipped for a fifth straight session.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was last down 0.6 per cent.

Germany’s DAX index was down 0.5 per cent after data showed the country’s industrial production fell by 2.4 per cent in July, compared with analysts’ prediction of a 0.3 per cent drop.

“Germany has become the sick child of Europe again recently, and there is a lot of worry on the health of the economy,” said James Rossiter, head of global macro strategy at TD Securities.

This would be overshadowed by the US job numbers, he said.

A lot is riding on the US non-farm payrolls report after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said policymakers did not welcome any further weakening in the labour market, laying the ground for imminent rate cuts.

Analysts are looking for the number of new jobs, due on Friday morning, Washington time (10.30pm AEST) to rise by 160,000 and for the unemployment rate to dip to 4.2 per cent.

TD Securities’ Rossiter said the unemployment rate was key.

A rise to 4.3 per cent or 4.4 per cent would probably push the Fed to call a 50-basis point rate cut, he said.

Influential Fed governor Christopher Waller and New York Fed president John Williams are due to speak just after the jobs data, which could give markets more clues on the scale of a Fed rate cut on September 18.

Before the announcement, US equity markets meandered downwards.

Nasdaq futures fell 1.15 per cent, while S&P futures slipped 0.6 per cent.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged 0.2 per cent higher, heading towards a 2.8 per cent drop for the week.

The Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.81 per cent at 2,765.81 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended 0.81 per cent lower at 3,231.35 points. Both recorded their lowest closing levels since February 5.

Hong Kong stock markets were shut before the arrival of Super Typhoon Yagi’s expected arrival along the coast of Hainan province.

The Nikkei dropped 0.7 per cent as the yen jumped, weighing on the outlook for Japanese exports.

The index is down about four per cent this week.

The yen rose 0.5 per cent to 142.68 per dollar, bringing the weekly gain to roughly about three per cent, although a strong payrolls report could see that reverse.

Treasury yields slipped on Friday, extending their declines this week.

Two-year Treasury yields are down about 20 basis points this week to about 3.71 per cent, trading around their lowest since early 2023.

Ten-year yields have fallen around 18 bps this week to 3.73 per cent, with the spread over two years on the verge of turning positive.

Oil faces the worst week since October 2023 as demand worries weigh against a big withdrawal from US inventories and a delay to output increases by OPEC+ producers.

Brent crude futures recovered some ground to rise 32 cents at $US73.01 a barrel, but were down more than seven per cent for the week.

Gold steadied at just more than $US2,517 an ounce.

This post was originally published on Michael West.