By Richard Leong
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bond yields fell on Friday as solid U.S. jobs data reinforced the view that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates gradually, while stock and currency markets were cautious ahead of an Italian constitutional reform vote on Sunday.
Crude futures rebounded on a weaker dollar, resuming a rise sparked by a cut in oil output agreed this week by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the first since 2008. Russia also agreed to reduce production for the first time in 15 years.
The strength of the U.S. November payrolls report had been seen as critical for the Fed to lift rates again for the first time in nearly a year.
"Our view is that, aside from tax and death, a December hike is a certainty and it's priced into the market at this point," said Shannon Soccocia, head of asset allocation at Boston Private Wealth.
The U.S. unemployment rate slipped to 4.6 percent last month, its lowest in more than nine years, but wages unexpectedly fell 0.1 percent, dashing expectations of faster growth in household income that would fire up inflation.
"We are pretty close to full employment, but we are not seeing upward pressure on wages," said Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Schwab Center for Financial Research.
After the wages data, longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields retreated further from the near 1-1/2-year peaks they reached on Thursday.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield (US10YT=RR) was down 5 basis points at 2.387 percent and the German 10-year Bund yield (DE10YT=RR) fell 6 basis points to 0.293 percent.
As bond markets took a breather from their massive selloff since Donald Trump's U.S. presidential win, global equities were on the back foot as investors took profits on a run-up on bets that tax cuts and less regulations which Trump campaigned on would be enacted and spur faster economic growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI) was up 1.33 points, or 0.01 percent, to 19,193.26, the S&P 500 (SPX) was up 6.24 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,197.32 and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) was up 23.40 points, or 0.45 percent, to 5,274.50.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (MIAPJ0000PUS) fell 0.73 percent to 430.75.
The MSCI world equity index (MIWD00000PUS), which tracks shares in 45 nations, rose 0.15 percent to 413.08.
ITALIAN REFERENDUM
Anxiety over the possibility of Italians rejecting Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's referendum, which could fuel political instability in euro zone's third-biggest economy, has caused choppy trading across European markets.
Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index (FTEU3) dropped 0.16 percent at 1,340.65.
The euro was down as much as 0.3 percent at $1.0626
The dollar index was down 0.3 percent at 100.74. (DXY)
A weaker greenback helped reversed the oil market's initial losses. Brent crude (LCOc1) was last up 0.4 percent at $54.16 a barrel. U.S. crude (CLc1) was last up 0.6 percent, at $51.34 per barrel.
Spot gold prices