Futures drift, stocks mixed after U.S. jobs data

U.S. stock futures rose and Treasury yields fell after hiring data came in well below estimates.

U.S. stock futures rose and Treasury yields fell after hiring data came in well below estimates.

Contracts on the S&P 500 gained after the meager jobs growth upended bets the Federal Reserve will soon begin scaling back monetary policy. European stocks were lower as losses in tech and utility firms outweighed a gain in carmakers. Asian shares got a boost from gains in China, where markets reopened after a long holiday.

Global stocks are on course for their best week since early September after the U.S. Senate moved to avert the risk of an immediate default, ending weeks of political stalemate. Friday’s job report provides some more clarity on the pace of the U.S. economic recovery, but several market overhangs persist including an energy crunch and commodity-fueled price pressures.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell after climbing as high as 1.6 per cent. The measure is close to completing a technical pattern that may point to further losses ahead. Oil extended a rebound, on track for a seventh weekly gain.

“As soon as you start thinking about tapering it’s really hard to not then think about what that means for the Fed funds rate and when that might start to increase,” Kim Mundy, currency strategist and international economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney, said on Bloomberg Television. “We do see scope that markets can start to price in a more aggressive Fed funds rate hike cycle.”