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Daily Markets Update: Bond Rout Hits 24-Year High, TSX Slips a 4th Day — and It's Jobs Day

  Friday, October 2, 2026. Figures are as of early morning, before the 8:30 a.m. ET U.S. jobs report. Global bond markets set the tone again. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield touched 5.34% on Thursday, its highest since 2002 , before easing back to about 5.24% by the close. Wall Street held up, but the damage was sharper elsewhere: the UK’s 30-year gilt yield crossed 6% for the first time since 1998, and Toronto slipped for a fourth straight session. Oil jumped more than 4% on Thursday before sliding back under US$100 this morning, and the Canadian dollar fell to a 12-week low. All eyes now turn to today’s U.S. jobs report, which could decide whether the bond selloff cools or keeps running. Today’s big event: the U.S. jobs report The U.S. September jobs report lands at 8:30 a.m. ET . Economists expect roughly 84,000 to 90,000 new jobs, with unemployment holding at 4.1% and wages up 0.3% on the month. That would be a big cooldown from August’s surprise gain of 162,000. It matters bec...

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Anticipation and Reaction to Fed’s Rate Decision

 


As investors braced for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision, North American stock markets experienced a mixed close. The Fed maintained its key interest rate at 5.25%-5.50%, leaving the future of rate cuts uncertain. Despite this, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq dipped, while the Dow Jones and S&P/TSX Composite saw modest gains.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference offered a glimmer of hope as he dismissed the likelihood of an immediate rate hike, causing a surge in market optimism. He acknowledged the persistent issue of inflation but expressed confidence in the progress towards the 2% target.

The labor market showed signs of normalization, with job openings at a three-year low2. Meanwhile, the earnings season is more than halfway through, with a majority of S&P 500 companies surpassing consensus expectations.

In the corporate landscape, AMD’s AI chip sales forecast led to a 9% drop in its shares, while Amazon’s AI-driven cloud growth pushed its stock up by 2.2%. Johnson & Johnson plans to proceed with a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit settlement, and Starbucks faced a significant sales forecast cut.

The energy sector took a hit due to falling oil prices and a potential Middle East ceasefire, while uranium miners saw a boost from a U.S. ban on Russian imports. Canadian manufacturing activity continued to contract, reflecting ongoing economic challenges.

In summary, the market’s response to the Fed’s decision was a complex interplay of anticipation, relief, and sector-specific movements, highlighting the intricate dynamics of financial markets.

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