LDN - Business

World stocks rise, US yields dip amid jobs data, UK labor landslide

[July 06, 2024] By Chibuike Oguh and Dhara Ranasinghe

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -Global stocks rose while U.S. Treasury yields dipped on Friday after highly anticipated jobs data boosted market expectations of a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut.

U.S. job growth slowed to a still-healthy pace in June, with unemployment rising to 4.1%, indicating that the Fed could begin cutting rates as inflation slows.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.34% to 817.96, a record high. On Wall Street, all three major indexes finished firmer, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq scoring all-time closing highs led by communication services, consumer staples, consumer discretionary and healthcare stocks.

"Our overall thesis for the economy right now is one that's cooling but not weak," said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services in Atlanta.

"I think this report confirmed this but also I think it is the 4% plus unemployment rate that will get the Fed's attention and probably provides them flexibility likely to start reducing rates. We think it's likely September," he added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.17% to 39,375.87, the S&P 500 gained 0.54% to 5,567.19 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.90% to 18,352.76.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields slid following the closely watched jobs data. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 6.9 basis points to 4.278%.

UK stocks gave up earlier gains and finished lower after Keir Starmer became Britain's new prime minister following a landslide general election victory by his Labour Party after 14 years of Conservative rule. London's FTSE 100 index fell 0.45%.

The market focus in Europe was quickly shifting from the British election outcome to Sunday's second-round legislative election in France. Europe's broad STOXX 600 index dropped 0.18%.

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A man stands in front of a monitor displaying Nikkei share average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, July 4, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/ File Photo

In currency markets, the dollar index fell slightly, the British pound sterling gained ground after the British election, the euro rose ahead of the French vote, and the dollar weakened against the yen before paring losses.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.28% at 104.87. Sterling strengthened 0.45% at $1.2815 and the euro was up 0.25% at $1.0837.

Oil prices settled lower as the rising possibility of a ceasefire deal in Gaza outweighed strong summer fuel demand and potential supply disruptions from Gulf of Mexico hurricanes.

Brent crude futures settled 1.02% lower to $86.54 a barrel, after reaching their highest since April earlier in the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at $83.16 a barrel, down 0.9%.

Gold prices extended gains to their highest level in a month as the U.S. dollar weakened. Spot gold added 1.39% to $2,388.86 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.8% to $2,378.60 an ounce.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was set for its biggest weekly fall in more than a year on worries over the likely dumping of tokens from defunct Japanese exchange Mt. Gox. Bitcoin fell 3.12% at $56,509.00, while Ethereum declined 5.07% at $2983.11.

(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York and Dhara Ranasinghe in LondonEditing by Alex Richardson, Matthew Lewis and Richard Chang)

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