The Australian Stock Exchange doesn’t like Mondays… More than $100 billion was wiped from the value of our top 200 listed companies yesterday in the worst day of trading since the start of the pandemic, and it follows pretty ordinary results on Friday. The reason? Investors are worried the US is headed for a recession – a concern that’s been bubbling along for months and supercharged by the release of July’s US employment data which jumped to a 3-year high of 4.3% – a figure that took economists by surprise and indicates the labour market is weaker than they thought. Overnight the Nasdaq also took a tumble following falls in Asia and Europe. Here at home, economists say the fears about America’s economy could help influence the Reserve Bank to hold our interest rate steady at 4.35%. We’ll know more when the board’s decision is announced this afternoon…