United States stocks slip on Fed rate hike concerns

But with many now saying that just meeting the consensus may be enough to tick the full employment box, it seems like a much surer bet the data, at least on jobs, are where the Fed wants them to be and that a move in September is possible.

Optimistic sentiment has been validated in recent days – fresh data has shown the U.S. economy heading for its eighth year of expansion, which has pushed the dollar index to a multi-week high. It has made session high at 1.3145 and lows at 1.3100 levels.

The Australian dollar declined to $0.7505 from $0.7578.

Oil prices rose as operators in the US Gulf of Mexico shut production due to a tropical storm, easing worries about global supply glut.

Gold is highly sensitive to rising US interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced. The greenback received a boost on Wednesday after data showed US private employers added 177,000 jobs in August, above economists’ forecasts and supporting expectations for Friday’s closely watched USA payrolls report to be strong. “Further dip-buying support is expected; however, bearish signals from silver could a precursor for weakness in gold, with a breach of $1,300 likely to generate deeper downside pressure”.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 49 points, or 0.26%, to 18,454, the S&P 500 lost four points, or 0.2%, to 2,176 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped nine points, or 0.18%, to 5,223.

Movers and shakers: Shares of Apple slipped 1% after the European Union antitrust regulator’s allegation that the company’s tax arrangement with Ireland allowed it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years.

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, a voting member on the Fed’s policy-setting committee this year, was the latest to join the chorus on Thursday, saying the USA labor market is at full strength and the Fed needs to be on a path of gradual interest rate increases. Earlier, the currency remained steady after Eurostat data showed consumer-price inflation in the eurozone rose by 0.2% in August from the same month a year earlier.

The FTSE/JSE Africa Gold Mining Index of producers fell for a third day to the lowest since June 29. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields were last at 1.570 percent, from a yield of 1.566 percent late Monday. Platinum for October settlement fell $1.0 or 0.1 percent to $1,052.50 per ounce while palladium at $672.15 was up $3.45.

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Brent crude settled down 89 cents, or 1.81 percent, at $48.37 per barrel. Investors await Wednesday’s weekly reading on crude inventories, which are expected to increase. It gained more than 7 percent for the month.