September started off on the wrong foot! Asian stocks are generally falling, with tech stocks pulling back and non-farm data suspense weighing on the market.

The Asian stock market opened lower and lower on the first trading day of September due to the new variables caused by the US court ruling on tariff policies and the impact of investors preparing for US employment data (which may determine the direction of interest rate cuts), with most stock indices falling. Although both US and European stock markets fell last Friday, trading was thin due to the US market closure, and US and European stock market futures saw slight gains. This week's data is relatively dense, covering manufacturing and service sector survey data, and a series of labor market data will conclude with the August non-farm employment report on Friday. Prior to this, dollar exchange rates and bond market volatility are limited. The market generally expects an increase of 75,000 in August non-farm employment numbers, but due to the unexpected weakness in July data causing uncertainty, various institutions have a wide range of estimates, ranging from 0 to 110,000; the unemployment rate is expected to climb slightly to 4.3%. Analysts also noted that over the past decade, the actual value of the August non-farm employment report has often been lower than market expectations. If this data meets expectations or performs weaker, it will further strengthen the market's expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve at the meeting on September 17 - currently, the probability of this rate cut is close to 90% in futures markets. Michael Feroli, Chief US Economist at JPMorgan Chase, said: "Although inflation and economic growth data do not strongly call for a rate cut, given the Fed's concerns about recent significant slowing employment growth, at this stage, the Fed is likely to proceed with a rate cut unless employment data shows significant unexpectedly strong performance." Expectations of a rate cut have been an important factor supporting the US stock market near historical highs, and this support has come at a particularly timely moment - historically, September has been the worst-performing month for the S&P 500 index. In early trading in Asian markets on Monday, S&P 500 futures rose 0.08%, Nasdaq futures rose 0.06%; Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.09%, FTSE futures fell 0.05%, and DAX futures rose 0.08%. The Nikkei 225 index in Japan fell 2.03% due to the decline in tech stocks on Friday, and the Korea Composite index fell 0.76%. Hiroyuki Ueno, Chief Strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, said: "Stocks like NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) have already seen significant gains in AI chip concept stocks. Currently, the valuations of related stocks are generally high, and some investors have long believed that their valuations have exceeded reasonable ranges. In this context, any negative news related to leading stocks like NVIDIA Corporation could have a direct impact on the entire technology sector." Legitimacy of US tariff policies questioned The US Federal Appeals Court ruled that the broad tariff policies implemented by Trump are illegal, but these tariffs will remain in effect until mid-October when the Supreme Court hears the appeal. This ruling continues to put pressure on the market due to ongoing trade uncertainty. Although the White House still has other ways to impose tariffs on specific industries, this ruling casts a shadow over trade agreements that have been reached or are in negotiations. For example, negotiations between the US and Japan have stalled due to rice issues, and negotiations with South Korea have also been hindered. Paul Ashworth, Chief North American Economist at Capital Economics, pointed out: "If the Supreme Court upholds the lower court's ruling, the US Treasury may have to refund most of the nearly $100 billion in additional tariffs collected over the past five months; in addition, other countries may revoke preliminary agreements previously reached, and this risk cannot be ignored." Investors also need to be wary of Trump's attacks on the independence of the Federal Reserve this week - Fed Governor Lael Brainard plans to submit a new defense on Tuesday against being fired. In addition, a confirmation hearing for Stephen Moore, another nominee for a Fed position nominated by Trump, is scheduled for Thursday. Political pressure on the Federal Reserve to accelerate rate cuts has suppressed the US dollar exchange rate. The dollar index is currently hovering around 97.720, down 2.2% last month; the euro against the dollar has risen slightly by 0.17%; the dollar against the yen remains at a level of 1 US dollar to 147.044 yen. In the commodity market, due to the weakening of the US dollar and expectations of rate cuts, gold prices rose 2.2% last week, reaching around $3475 at the time of writing. Oil prices are under pressure as OPEC+ plans to increase production in the coming months. As of now, Brent crude futures prices have fallen by 0.40%; US crude futures prices have fallen by 0.37%.