The week wraps up with the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report taking center stage, showing that payrolls fell by 23,000 in July compared to the 80,000 the market had expected, following a combined downward revision of 103,000 jobs in May and June. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, though this was due to a lower labor force participation rate, and wage growth slowed. The market interpreted the data as weak enough to rule out a Fed rate hike in the near term, and interest rate futures now price in only a 25-basis-point hike between October and December of this year, which boosted stocks and pushed down yields. In the U.S., the Nasdaq rose 1.3%, the S&P 500 0.6%, and the Dow Jones 0.3%; elsewhere, the CSI 300 advanced 0.9% and the Stoxx 600 0.2%, while the Nikkei fell 0.1% and the Kospi 0.6%. In commodities, gold rose 2.5% and silver 3.3%, buoyed by falling interest rates and a weaker dollar, while copper fell 1.8%. WTI crude oil fell 0.5% to $76.9, and Brent crude oil fell 0.5% to $82.1. In the bond market, the bull steepener deepened (the short end fell more than the long end, as the market is pricing in more easing in the short term than in the long term): the 2-year UST fell 5.7 bps to 4.2%, the 10-year UST fell 4.2 bps to 4.6%, and the 30-year UST fell 3.6 bps to 5.2%. The 10-year Bund fell 0.9 bps to 3.1%, and the 10-year Gilt fell 1.6 bps to 4.9%. The DXY fell 0.4% to 99.5, and the VIX declined 0.3 points to 14.9.

The Venezuelan yield curve ended the week virtually flat, with slight fluctuations in sovereign bonds and PDVSA bonds. Trading volume was virtually nonexistent.

Latin American bond yields closed on a positive note. Mexico led the way with 0.6 points, followed by Colombia (+0.4 points), Brazil (+0.3 points), Pemex (+0.2 points), and Ecuador and the Dominican Republic (+0.1 points each). On the downside, El Salvador fell 0.4 points and Argentina 0.1 points. Trading volume was low.