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Wall Street rises on US jobs report as FTSE closes in red

A look at how markets are performing this Friday

Pedro Goncalves
·Finance Reporter, Yahoo Finance UK
Updated ·2-min read
Wall Street A worker makes final preparations after installing the motherboard on the reverse side of a 32-inch TV at Element Electronics in Winnsboro, South Carolina May 29, 2014. When Walmart pledged last year to buy an extra $250 billion in U.S.-made goods over the next decade, it appeared to be just what was needed to help move America's putative manufacturing renaissance from rhetoric to reality. The company says consumers can now buy everything from U.S.-made flat-screen TVs, light bulbs and towels and curtains in its stores and on its website. The flat-screen TVs, made in Winnsboro, South Carolina by Element Electronics, may be the campaign?s biggest surprise to date. Today, Element?s 315,000-square-foot plant in South Carolina has six assembly lines making 32- and 40-inch TVs that are now available in all of Walmart's more than 4,000 U.S. Stores. The switch has led to significant savings in ocean freight charges and customs duties on finished goods - though like so many companies involved in the initiative Element has had difficulty finding domestic suppliers. To match Feature WALMART-RESHORING/ Picture taken May 29, 2014. REUTERS/Chris Keane (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT)
Wall Street jumped amid a cooling in jobs growth that reinforces hopes the Fed is done with rate hikes. Photo: Chris Keane/Reuters (CHRIS KEANE / reuters)

The FTSE 100 and European stocks started higher this Friday amid a perceived dovish tilt by central banks, but that optimism faded and markets closed mixed. Bucking the trend, Wall Street pushed higher amid weak US jobs data that gave investors confidence that the rate hikes are over.

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) lost 0.58% to close at 7,404 points, the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris was muted at 7,052 points. In Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) bucked the trend and rose 0.30% to 15,189. The Stoxx 600 (STOXX) climbed 0.15%, led by auto stocks.

Across the pond, stocks climbed as weak jobs data cemented rate-pause bets. The Dow Jones (^DJI) gained 0.82% to 34,114 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 1.14% to 4,367 points and the tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) climbed 1.40% to 13,480 points.

The US economy added 150,000 jobs in October, undershooting the 180,000 reading expected, with auto industry strikes a factor, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. The unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.9%.

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The health of the labour market is a key input for Fed policymakers, and the signs of a slowing economy should support the case for the central bank to hold off from another rate hike this year, as my colleague Karen Friar writes.

Traders are now pricing in an 85% chance there will be no more Fed hikes this year, compared with a 59% probability the day before its policymakers' meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Back in London, lenders were among the few stocks making gains, with NatWest (NWG.L) up by 2.72% and Barclays (BARC.L) climbing 2.10%.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: “After a dismal October for markets, November has opened with a different narrative and a very different performance."

In Asia, Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong rose 2.52% to 17,664 while the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) climbed 0.71% to 3,030 points. Tokyo markets were closed for a holiday.

In China, a services industry survey showed a slight improvement in October, though retail sales hit its lowest level in 10 months.

Meanwhile, Brent crude (BZ=F) slipped and was trading at around $85/barrel.

Watch: BoE freezes rate, rules out cuts any time soon

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