A weaker than forecast non-farm jobs report briefly allowed the Dow Jones to edge into the green, only for the index to slip back into the red as the afternoon went on.
At 155k, the headline non-farm figure was well below both the 198k forecast, and the (downwards revised) 237k last month, but hardly a disaster. Combine that with some disappointing but decent wage growth data, and it was a jobs report that wasn’t noteworthy enough to either dissuade the Fed from hiking rates later in the month, or cause Jerome Powell to reverse November’s hawk-to-dove about face going into 2019.
This meant there wasn’t a whole lot for the Dow to work with in that regard, preventing its initial post-open bounce from being sustained. Still, given where it was at points on Thursday, the Dow will probably take a 150 point dip, one the leaves it lurking around 24750.
Interestingly, while the Dow failed to gain any traction, the European indices roared ahead with their rebound. The FTSE climbed more than 150 points as BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa) were dragged higher by Brent Crude’s 5.5% surge, the black stuff overjoyed at news of a larger-than-expected oil cut from OPEC. In the Eurozone, the CAC was up 1.7%, with the DAX curiously lagging behind with a 0.8% rise.
As for the pound, it appeared that next week’s looming Brexit deal vote – if it even goes ahead, that is – is weighing on the currency. Against the dollar cable was down 0.3%, taking cable the wrong side of $1.274, while against the euro it dropped 0.4%, leaving it at a near 2 and a half month low of €1.1185.
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