U.S. job growth accelerated in October after hurricane-related disruptions in the prior month, but a sharp retreat in annual wage gains and surge in the number of people dropping out of the work force cast a cloud over the labor market. nL2N1N81OL
NEW YORK – World stock markets dipped on Friday, putting them on track for their first decline in seven sessions in the wake of U.S. payrolls data, while the dollar strengthened on the back of manufacturing and services data.
Wall Street was little changed, as an unimpressive payrolls report was offset by a 2.58 percent gain in Apple a day after the iPhone maker posted quarterly results.
“Wages were flat, last month we saw a little bit of a surprise bump upward in that so we were expecting a more moderate number there”, said Sean Lynch, co-head of global equity strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in Omaha, Nebraska.
“We do think wage pressure could start to weigh on the markets next year in a tight labor market.”
Apple gave the biggest boost to each of the major Wall Street indexes after the stronger-than-expected results it reported on Thursday offered a rosy forecast for the holiday shopping season. Long, snaking lines formed outside the company’s stores in Asia and Europe on Friday as fans flocked to buy the new iPhone X and the U.S. company, the largest by market capitalization, moved closer to a $1 trillion valuation.
With 406 of S&P 500 having reported earnings, 72.4 percent have topped Wall Street expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, in line with the 72 percent average over the past four quarters. The current growth estimate for the quarter stands at 8 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 4.51 points, or 0.02 percent, to 23,520.77, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.47 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,580.32, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 16.67 points, or 0.25 percent, to 6,731.61.
FILE PHOTO: Passersby are reflected in an electronic stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, October 23, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato
European shares crept higher on firmer tech stocks and carmakers, though gains were limited as earnings weighed on shares of French bank Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) and Dutch telecoms company Altice (ATCA.AS).
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 0.09 percent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.14 percent.
The dollar was track for a third straight week of gains after data on U.S. manufacturing and services reversed a drop following the payrolls report.
Factory goods orders increased 1.4 percent as demand for a range of goods rose, the Commerce Department said. Orders increased by an unrevised 1.2 percent in August.
The dollar index .DXY rose 0.3 percent, with the euro EUR= down 0.39 percent at $1.161.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 3/32 in price to yield 2.3596 percent, compared with 2.349 percent late on Thursday.
Oil prices rose to near their highest in more than two years, with buyers attracted by expectations of an extension to a global pact to cut output that has reduced oversupply.
U.S. crude CLcv1 rose 0.13 percent to $54.61 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $60.82, up 0.33 percent on the day.