US stocks rose Friday after a report showed a healthy jobs market and Paris rallied as President Emmanuel Macron vowed to serve out his full term and end France’s political crisis.
Most other stock markets were pulled higher in their wake. But oil fell and Bitcoin pulled back under $100,000 after hitting records Thursday.
The world’s biggest economy gained 227,000 jobs in November, higher than analysts’ expectations, and up from a revised 36,000 in October, said the Department of Labor.
“The US jobs market has emphatically rebounded following October’s disappointing data,” said Neal Keane, head of global sales trading at ADSS.
October’s figures had been depressed by hurricanes and a dockworkers strike, and November’s increases may have been exaggerated by the end of a strike at Boeing and by retail hiring ahead of the holiday season.
US stock futures jumped in pre-market trading after the report, but gave back some of those gains.
Investors are mostly betting that November’s numbers, while comforting, are probably not strong enough to deter the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates again later this month.
“Investors needed a reassuring jobs report and that’s exactly what they got,” said eToro analyst Bret Kenwell. “The market still favors a rate cut from the Fed later this month and this report may not change that expectation.”
– Paris markets rise after Macron speech –
The Paris stock market was up 1.4 percent in mid-afternoon trading, on “hope that President Emmanuel Macron will serve out his term and that a (French) budget can be passed in the coming weeks”, noted Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Macron on Friday was holding talks with French political leaders on the left and right as he seeks to quickly name a new prime minister after Michel Barnier’s government was ousted in a historic no-confidence vote.
Macron adopted a defiant tone in an address to the nation Thursday evening, just 24 hours after parliament voted out Barnier over his 2025 budget plan, which included unpopular austerity measures forced through without a vote, using special powers.
The luxury sector benefitted also from hopes of a pickup in Chinese demand. Gucci owner Kering topped the Paris CAC 40 as its shares gained more than five percent, while LVMH rose more than 3 percent.
Frankfurt and other continental markets were also higher, though not by as much, and London little changed. In Asia, shares in Seoul sank more than one percent and the won weakened to about 1,420 per dollar as lawmakers prepared to hold an impeachment vote Saturday after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s dramatic, short-lived martial law this week.
While analysts said the economic fallout from the crisis would likely be limited, the political storm is ongoing.
On Friday the head of Yoon’s ruling People Power Party demanded he stand down over the incident, warning he posed a great danger to the country.
Hong Kong and Shanghai rallied as investors grew hopeful of fresh stimulus when top Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping meet to discuss economic policy next week.
That gathering follows recent data that gave a glimmer of optimism that China’s near two-year growth slowdown could soon end.
Bitcoin was hovering around $98,000, after having blasted to the historic peak of $103,800 Thursday on news that US President-elect Donald Trump had picked crypto proponent Paul Atkins to head the nation’s markets regulator.
Oil prices slipped as OPEC+’s decision to extend supply cuts failed to assuage concerns about coming excess supply.
“Concerns about oversupply and muted global growth remain at the forefront” of the energy market, said Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at City Index.
– Key figures around 1435 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 44,857.71 points
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,092.33
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 19,766.54
Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.4 percent at 7,432.86
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 20,403.74
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,340.34
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 39,091.17 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.6 percent at 19,865.85 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,404.08 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0583 from $1.0591 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2772 from $1.2760
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 149.44 yen from 150.09 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.89 from 82.97 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.1 percent at $67.55 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.0 percent at $71.36 per barrel
gv/jj
