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Global Markets: Dollar, stocks trim gains after U.S. job growth slows

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Reuters LONDON

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures and the dollar trimmed gains on Friday after U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in December, although a pick-up in wage gains suggested further labour market strength that could pave the way for interest rate rises.

The dollar index - the dollar measured against six other top world currencies - was flat after trading marginally higher before the jobs numbers.

In equities, Dow e-minis were up 0.3 percent, and S&P 500 e-minis 0.26 percent higher.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year government notes dipped from Thursday's close.

"Payrolls came in below expectations, but the details are generally fine. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3 percent and the upward revisions to last month take some of the sting out of the miss against consensus in December," said Thomas Simons, money market economist at Jefferies in New York.

 

The U.S. Labor Department said non-farm payrolls increased by 148,000 jobs in December, versus a forecast of 190,000 by economists surveyed by Reuters. That was a drop on the revised 252,000 increase in November.

World stocks markets on Friday had edged higher before the jobs numbers and were on course for their strongest week in more than a year after several benchmarks broke record highs. With the world's largest economies all growing healthily at once and central banks moving slowly to tighten policy, investors have poured money into risk assets.

(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Alison Williams)

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First Published: Jan 05 2018 | 7:49 PM IST

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