- Saudi crown prince says no Israel ties without Palestinian state
- Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits
- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- Man City blunted by 'giant' Inter in Champions League stalemate
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- Ukraine official claims Russian advance in Kursk has been 'stopped'
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450
- US Fed makes aggressive rate cut, weeks before election
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first reduction since 2020
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Struggling Roma replace sacked icon De Rossi with Ivan Juric
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- McIlroy outlines threats to golf peace deal
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- Three dead, 100 wounded in new wave of Lebanon device explosions
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ |
Oil prices, US jobs data weigh on stocks
A surge in oil prices to close to $93 per barrel as well as robust US jobs data weighed on stock prices Friday as they fuelled expectations central banks will move forcefully to raise interest rates.
Oil prices struck seven-year highs as traders bet on continued improvement in demand thanks to the economic reopening, and with the United States hit by a cold snap.
Lingering worries over Ukraine-Russia tensions were also playing a key role in the spike, with analysts predicting $100 could be breached soon.
But high oil prices would push inflation even higher, with central banks already under pressure to raise interest rates.
US data released Friday showed the US economy added 467,000 jobs in January, far more than had been expected given the renewed onslaught of Covid-19 infections caused by the Omicron variant.
"The key takeaway from the report is that it will inflame concerns about the Fed being behind the curve in fighting inflation," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick J. O'Hare.
The US Federal Reserve is expected to begin raising interest rates next month, but more analysts are expecting it may do so more agressively, by moving with half percentage point hikes rather than quarter point increases.
On Wall Street, both the Dow and S&P 500 were roughly flat in early trading. But the tech-heavy Nasdaq was higher thanks to better-than-expected earnings reports from Amazon, Snap and Pinterest.
Shares in Amazon jumped more than 10 percent as the company reported revenues jumped 9 percent to $137.4 billion in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, stocks were lower in Europe, where the European Central Bank's apparent shift in its outlook towards lifting rates this year itself stunned investors Thursday.
ECB chief Christine Lagarde had for months said inflationary pressures would be temporary and dissipate as the world economy reopens and supply chains resume -- allowing the bank to keep rates ultra-low this year.
But a record jump in eurozone prices last month and no sign of them easing has forced her to re-evaluate, saying the "situation had indeed changed".
The news boosted the euro -- the single currency recording a weekly gain of nearly three percent against the dollar.
But an ECB board member, French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned against making predictions.
"If the direction of our trajectory is clear, no one should jump to conclusions about its time," he said.
- Key figures around 1430 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,220.96 points
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.6 percent at 15,116.21
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.7 percent at 6,954.47
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.2 percent at 4,091.03
New York - Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 35,125.39
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 27,439.99 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 3.2 percent at 24,573.29 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1426 from $1.1438 late Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3524 from $1.3601
Euro/pound: UP at 84.43 pence from 84.06 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 115.34 yen from 114.95 yen
Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.6 percent at $93.46 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.9 percent at $92.86 per barrel
E.Schubert--BTB