London (AFP) – US stock markets rose but European shares fell Friday as investors digested a cooler US jobs report at the end of a volatile week marked by concerns over a trade war. Official data showed the United States added fewer jobs than expected in January while unemployment ticked down. Wall Street’s three main indexes were up in early deals as the non-farm payrolls data could have an influence on the US Federal Reserve’s future decisions on interest rates. Europe’s leading stock markets were in the red in afternoon deals.
“Today’s NFP data does not show a large enough divergence from expectations to shift what is expected to be the Fed’s next rate move,” said Jochen Stanzl, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. “Still the Fed is expected to cut the Fed Funds rate twice this year and today’s data does not really give a hint into when the first cut will be,” Stanzl said. The Fed kept its rate unchanged last week, with chair Jerome Powell saying the central bank was in no “hurry” to adjust borrowing costs again.
Total US employment rose by 143,000 jobs last month, said the Labor Department, significantly lower than the revised 307,000 figure in December. The January figure was also below an analyst consensus estimate of 155,000 according to Briefing.com. “We do not think that the labour market data shifts the dial for the Fed,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading platform. The jobs data caps a turbulent week for stock markets and currencies after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on China. The US leader also warned that the European Union would face tariffs “pretty soon” while he delayed duties on Canada and Mexico at the 11th hour.
Investors were also tracking corporate results. In Frankfurt, Porsche shares slumped after the luxury carmaker’s forecasts for the year ahead disappointed expectations. Gold was another shining performer this week, reaching a new all-time peak as the precious metal profits from its status as a haven investment. Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets closed solidly higher thanks to gains across technology firms. Chinese startup Deepseek has shaken up the race for AI supremacy, spooking US tech companies. Tokyo stocks were weighed by a stronger yen, which picked up this week after Bank of Japan board member Naoki Tamura said he wanted borrowing costs to increase.
– Key figures around 1445 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 44,792.86 points
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 6,094.27
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 19,834.63
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,702.35
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,988.34
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 21,886.41
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent to 38,787.02 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.2 percent to 21,133.54 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.0 percent to 3,303.67 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0381 from $1.0387 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2457 from $1.2436
Dollar/yen: UP at 151.66 yen from 151.47 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.36 pence from 83.50 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.9 percent at $74.96 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.1 percent at $71.36 per barrel
burs-ajb-lth/cw
© 2024 AFP
