Investing.com – Take a peek at the top 5 things that rocked U.S. markets this week
Gold notched second weekly gain
Gold continued its recent trend higher, notching its second straight weekly gain, as ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Korean peninsula sparked demand for safe-haven gold offsetting expectations of tighter monetary policy.
In a rising interest rate environment, investor appetite for gold weakens as the opportunity cost of holding the precious metal increases relative to other interest-bearing assets such as bonds.
Money mangers continued to pile into gold, however, as a report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday showed net bullish bets on gold rose to 231,000, the highest in eleven months.
Dollar dodged bears after weak jobs report
The U.S. dollar index rebounded from session lows against a basket of global currencies on Friday, as investors shrugged off the weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls in August amid analysts' comments that it would take a series of “horrendous” payrolls data for the Fed to abandon its plan to hike rates once more this year.
The U.S. economy created 156,000 jobs in August, missing consensus estimates for the creation of 180,000 jobs.
The jobless rate unexpectedly rose in August to 4.4% while average hourly earnings fell short of expectations, slowing to 0.1% from 0.3% in the prior month.
The dollar had started the week on the back foot, falling to a 16-month low after North Korea launched a missile that flew over Japan.
Bitcoin edged closer to $5,000
Bitcoin surged to all-time highs Friday, as investors piled into the cryptocurrency amid expectations that it would soon hit $5,000 for the first time in its nine-year history.
Bitcoin hit a high of $4,936.9 before paring gains as market participants appeared to take profit on the recent rally which has seen Bitcoin gain more than 70% in August and more than 400% over the past year.
Crude oil futures struggled to weather the storm as weekly slump continued
Crude futures settled higher on Friday, but failed to pare losses sustained earlier during the week, as record flooding in the oil heartland of Texas due to storm Harvey weighed on refinery activity reducing demand for crude oil.
Exactly a week after storm Harvey crossed the Gulf of Mexico off Port O'Connor, Texas, nearly a quarter of U.S. refining capacity has been taken offline, representing roughly 4.4 million barrels per day.
The slump in refinery activity sparked fears of a fuel shortage, as gasoline prices hit two-year highs on Thursday before paring gains, after two refineries began to restart.
Crude posted its fifth-straight weekly loss on Friday.
Apple hit all-time highs
Shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) hit all-time highs on Thursday, after the company announced the launch event date for its newest smartphone.
The launch event, slated for Sept. 12, will see the tech giant unveil its latest smartphone, the iPhone 8.
Apple usually sells its new phones within a week or so of the announcement.
As well as its latest smartphone, Apple is expected to announce several upcoming products, including two new iterative iPhone updates.
Apple’s most high-end iPhone 8 is rumored to fetch a price tag starting from $1,000.
Shares of Apple closed at $164.05, up 0.03% on Friday.