US Jobs Report, AI Earnings to Keep Markets on High Alert

The upcoming week will be dominated by US payrolls report and AI earnings, keeping investors on edge. The July jobs report is expected to provide clues about the likelihood of a rate hike in September, with analysts forecasting a slight improvement of 91k jobs.

However, a second straight month of negative surprise would raise question marks about the strength of hiring, leading investors to pare back rate hike expectations. A soft jobs report would be positive for risk appetite, as September bets would decline further, though this would come at the expense of dollar strength.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada and Reserve Bank of New Zealand will release employment figures, with the latter's data potentially influencing the central bank's rate hike expectations. The Japanese government intervened in the currency market to boost the yen, which has been under pressure due to mixed signals from the Fed on interest rates.