Global Stocks, Dollar Steady After US Jobs Data

Global stocks and the dollar steadied on Monday as unexpected US jobs data eased concerns about the global economy, although diplomatic tension over the crisis over Ukraine remained high.

* The payroll report for January showed on Friday that the annual growth of average hourly earnings rose from 4.9% to 5.7%, while payrolls from previous months were revised upwards by 709,000 to radically reverse the trend of hiring.

* However, the data raised the risk of aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, as markets also priced in a tightening in the UK and the euro zone.

* “The most important thing remains the central banks and the tightening we see there, which has caused the volatility,” said Matthias Scheiber of Allspring Global Investments. “The jobs data looked good, that basically saved the market.”

* After last week’s choppy ride, the MSCI World Stock Index was flat. European stocks and the UK FTSE were also flat.

* S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures fell 0.3% after last week’s turmoil in tech stocks led Amazon.com Inc to gain nearly $200 billion, while parent Meta Platforms Inc of Facebook, lost as much.

* The dollar index gained 0.05% to 95.491 units, after losing 1.8% last week.

* The euro was down 0.05% at $1.1441, after advancing 2.7% last week, its best performance since early 2020, as markets anticipated the likely timing of the first rate hike in the euro zone.

* The dollar was down 0.13% against its Japanese pair at 115.08 yen.

* Meanwhile, concerns about inflation pushed the yield on two-year US Treasury bonds to a nearly two-year high at 1.331% in Asia. Yields on 10-year notes fell after hitting a two-year high on Friday and German 10-year bonds traded at three-year highs hit on Friday.

* Crude oil prices fell in a volatile session, while gold gained 0.27% to $1,813 an ounce, fueled by inflation fears.

* MSCI ‘s broader index of Asia-Pacific stocks excluding Japan fell 0.13%, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.7% and South Korea’s Kospi gave up 0.19%.

* China returned from the Lunar New Year break with jumps in stocks and commodities. CSI300 and Shanghai Composite gained 1.54% and 2%, respectively, with metals and iron ore rallying in Shanghai . Hong Kong’s Hang Seng traded little changed.