Stock markets rise after US jobs report
US stock markets rose slightly Friday as investors digested a jobs report showing that hiring in the United States was higher than expected last month.
Non-farm payrolls rose 275,000 in February, higher than the consensus forecast of 200,000.
Stock futures initially fell on the news, which seemed to suggest the economy is running too hot to justify the Federal Reserve easing its monetary stance.
But the report also included downward revisions to previous months, as well as rise in the unemployment rate to 3.9 percent from 3.7 percent.
Shortly after their opening, all major Wall Street indexes were slightly higher.
"The key takeaway from the report, accounting for the fresh data and the revised data, is that it fits the soft landing/no landing narrative that is integral for a positive earnings growth outlook," said Patrick O'Hare, an analyst at Briefing.com.
"In that regard, then, it has provided some validation for the stock market's run to record highs."
Wall Street had reached all-time highs Thursday, lifted by Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell hinting at a more dovish tilt to monetary policy coming soon.
But in his testimony to lawmakers he also insisted the Fed needed to see more signs of winning the battle against inflation before making a move.
"Overall, this was a weak jobs report, despite the headline beat," said Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at FOREX.com. "The Fed is now more likely to cut rates in June."
In Europe, Paris and Frankfurt were up slighly at mid-afternoon, but London was down.
Paris and Frankfurt also hit record highs Thursday after European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde hinted at cuts to eurozone interest rates starting in June.
The Fed and the ECB have jacked up interest rates to combat the inflation that spiked after Russia invaded Ukraine. Inflation rates have slowed, but are still above the central banks' targets.
But the higher rates have risked pushing countries into recession, particularly in Europe.
Official data Friday showed German industrial production rose for the first time in nearly a year in January, fuelling hopes that a manufacturing slowdown in Europe's biggest economy was bottoming out.
The US stock market has gained around 10 percent so far this year, driven higher by tech stocks, but they have started to diverge in recent weeks.
Chipmaker Nvidia is up 92 percent from the start of the year and Facebook owner Meta is up 48 percent, but Apple is down nine percent.
Another major stock, electric carmaker Tesla, has lost 28 percent.
"It's quite obvious that some differentiation is coming back into the market," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
Expectations of lower US interest rates continued to drag the dollar lower and boost gold, which Friday hit a new summit at $2,171.38 an ounce.
- Key figures around 1440 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,661.54 points
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 8,043.07
Frankfurt - DAX: UP LESS THAN 0.1 percent at 17,847.21
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 4,981.98
New York - Dow: UP LESS THAN 0.1 percent at 38,793.47
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 5,167.06
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 16,334.48
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 39,688.94 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent at 16,353.39 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,046.02 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0959 from $1.0951 on Thursday
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.77 yen from 148.07 yen
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2877 from $1.2819
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.1 pence from 85.46 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $78.63 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $82.69 per barrel
P.Smid--RTC
