08:35am  ~  A lazy start for me today and as it is Non Farm Payrolls Day I shall not be doing any trading now until next week – as usual the markets will be quiet this morning and then shoot off in one direction or another (or probably both) at 1:30pm UK time.  Later today we are off to Majorca as autumn weather seems to be gathering pace so warmer climes are beckoning.

Overnight markets in Asian have seen a slight correction upwards despite continuing problems in Hong Kong although there does seem to be some negotiation between protesters and Chinese leaders coming up in the next few days but here in Europe equities finished sharply down after ECB President Mario Draghi failed to reassure the markets that he is serious about propping up the Eurozone to stave off impending recession. He did say that something was going to happen but unfortunately did not reveal any numbers so disappointing traders who then reacted negatively with the German Dax 30 index closing sharply down by 2% and the French CAC 40 being hit even more. As expected though, ECB interest rates did stay at its record low level.

As mentioned above, it’s the first Friday of the month so U.S. jobs numbers are announced at lunchtime with expectations of a rate of 6.1% which is slightly down on last month’s actual figure.  U.S. equities did bounce back slightly yesterday and the daily charts of the two main indices now have reversal candles present so a number around 6% or less will probably trigger a proper reversal after a bearish trend that kicked off two weeks ago.

WTI Crude prices hit a new low yesterday as it fell below the significant $90 level on news that Saudi Arabian and Russian production oversupply but an equity rally later in the session then caused a rebound and the price recovered to $91.39, up 65 cents.

Market Close Thursday 2nd Oct. 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -3.66 @ 16,801.05  S&P 500  +0.01 @ 1,946.17  NASDAQ  +1.12 @3,985.87  FTSE 100  -111.13 @ 6,446.39  DAX 30  -186.35 @ 9,195.68  CAC 40  -122.60 @ 4,242.67