BS: U.S. Index Futures Fall Before Payrolls; Europe Bonds Up
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures pared losses, while Treasuries rose after a U.S. jobs report. European shares slipped from a two-month high. Gold advanced.
S&P 500 futures fell less than 0.1 percent at 8:47 a.m. in New York, as the MSCI All-Country World Index lost 0.2 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.4 percent. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell to 2.42 percent. The dollar headed for its longest run of weekly gains versus the euro since the 18-nation currency’s inception. Gold gained 0.5 percent.
U.S. payrolls rose 142,000 in August and the unemployment rate fell, Labor Department data showed. While the Federal Reserve is trimming bond purchases, the ECB unexpectedly lowered its key interest rates yesterday and announced an assets-buying plan, as President Mario Draghi signaled at least 700 billion euros ($906 billion) of fresh aid. In Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko voiced “careful optimism” that talks today with pro-Russian rebels will set the course for a cease-fire.
U.S. employers in August added the fewest number of jobs this year, marking a pause in the recent momentum of the labor market. The 142,000 advance in payrolls was weaker than the lowest estimate in a Bloomberg survey and followed a revised 212,000 gain in July, the Labor Department figures showed. The median estimate was for a 230,000 increase. The unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent in July, reflecting a drop in joblessness among teenagers.
To contact the reporter on this story: Cecile Vannucci in London at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net
