GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. jobs data boosts dollar, bond yields, drags on stocks
(Adds close of European markets)
* Robust U.S. labor market report boosts dollar, government debt
* Stocks in Europe, Wall Street drop after U.S. jobs report
* Oil eases on strong dollar
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The dollar and bond yields jumped on Friday while stock markets fell as U.S. data showed the strongest annual wage growth since 2009, raising the specter of accelerating inflation and more American interest rate hikes than expected this year.
Yields on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note shot up to a four-year high within five minutes of release of the U.S. Labor Department’s unemployment report, which showed nonfarm payrolls jumped by 200,000 jobs last month.
The dollar surged against the Japanese yen, euro and a basket of six currencies.
The price of the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note later fell further, pushing the yield up as high as 2.854 percent from 2.773 percent late on Thursday.
“It feels as though the grand era of interest rates below 3 percent will soon be in the rear-view mirror,” said Mike Terwilliger, portfolio manager of Resource Liquid Alternatives for the Resource Credit Income Fund in New York.
While wage growth may be good for the economy it could spell trouble for the bond market as inflation portends rate hikes, which augur a repricing of fixed income, he said.
Stocks in Europe and on Wall Street plunged at least 1 percent on the news, as the strong labor market report boosted the chances the Federal Reserve will raise rates four times this year instead of the three hikes analysts had expected.
“What is good for the average American worker ends up being negative for stocks because it increases the odds of further rate hikes,” Michael Antonelli, managing director of institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
MSCI’s all-country world index of equity performance in 47 countries fell 1.25 percent while its gauge of emerging market stocks lost 1.4 percent.
Deutsche Bank’s disappointing results pulled the heavyweight banking sector down to help European shares post their biggest weekly loss in more than a year, while Britain’s top share index sealed its weakest week in nine months on BT’s results.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading regional shares closed down 1.37 percent and the blue-chip FTSE 100 index in London closed down 0.63 percent.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 369.84 points, or 1.41 percent, to 25,816.87, the S&P 500 lost 29.33 points, or 1.04 percent, to 2,792.65 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 62.58 points, or 0.85 percent, to 7,323.28.
Disappointing results from some of the largest U.S. companies also weighed on stocks. Oil majors Exxon and Chevron fell 5.8 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, after reporting lower-than-expected quarterly profits.
Google-parent Alphabet fell 4.9 percent after an earnings miss and Apple fell 3.5 percent as investors focused on its muted forecast rather than strong iPhone prices.
The dollar index, tracking the unit against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.38 percent, with the euro down 0.21 percent to $1.2482. The Japanese yen weakened 0.59 percent versus the greenback at 110.04 per dollar.
The U.S. bond market’s gauges of inflation expectations added to their earlier rise on Friday as domestic wages recorded their strongest annual increase in more than 8-1/2 years, suggesting inflation may be accelerating.
The gap between 10-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) and 10-year Treasury notes reached its widest since September 2014.
U.S. crude fell 60 cents to $65.20 per barrel and Brent fell $1.10 to $68.55.
Spot gold dropped 0.99 percent to $1,335.50 an ounce.