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World stocks fall as US jobless rate hits 10.2 percent
November 6, 2009
European stocks fell and Wall Street was expected to drop on the open Friday after data showed the US unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent in October, more than expected, as 190 000 jobs were cut.
The rise above the psychologically-important 10 percent level was the first since 1983 and reminded investors that the world's largest economy, which last week was confirmed to have emerged from recession, will recover only slowly.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.9 percent at 5 081.51 while Germany's DAX dropped 1.1 percent to 5 419.13. The CAC-40 in France shed 0.9 percent to 3 676.10.
Although Asian indexes closed higher, riding positive momentum from Thursday and before the jobs data was released, US markets were expected to slide. Dow Jones industrials futures were down 56 points at 9 898 and Standard & Poor's 500 futures were down 6.4 points at 1 056.80.
Both European markets and US futures had been higher before the data, which disappointed expectations.
Economists had been forecasting job losses of about 175 000 in October and an unemployment rate of 9.9 percent. It is the 22nd straight month the US economy has shed jobs, the longest on records dating back 70 years.
The health of the US labor market is crucial for the global economy because it accounts for over two thirds of US economic activity and 20 percent of the world economy.
"Even though the recovery in output began around the middle of the year, the US economy is still not expanding rapidly enough to generate net gains in employment," said Paul Ashworth, economist at Capital Economics.
He noted there were some increases in temporary employment, but said it was disappointing to see that average hours worked did not rise - if companies were not working their employees harder they are unlikely to have to hire new staff.
"This recovery is shaping up to be a 'jobless' one," he said.
In Europe, meanwhile, earnings reports were somewhat more encouraging.
British Airways shares jumped 6 percent after it reported a loss but said it had cut costs aggressively. Royal Bank of Scotland PLC shares were up 4 percent after it confirmed its preliminary estimate for a big third quarter loss of 1.8 billion pounds ($3 billion) but said its underlying profitability had improved.
Next week, many of the US's larger retail operators post results, including Wal-Mart Stores, Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy's and JC Penney to mention just a few.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.7 percent to 9 789.35 and Hong Kong's index gained 1.6 percent to 21 829.72, helped by gains in world markets on Thursday.
South Korea's benchmark rose 1.3 percent while Australia's index jumped nearly 2 percent as the central bank more than tripled this year's growth forecast to 1.75 percent from 0.5 percent and strongly hinted at more rate hikes.
Crude prices fell alongside the slump in stock markets, with benchmark crude for December delivery down $1.22 cents to $78.40 a barrel; the contract fell 78 cents overnight.
The dollar slipped to 90.11 yen from 90.78 yen late Thursday in New York, while the euro fell to $1.4832 from $1.4868.
Currency traders will be keeping a close eye on developments in St. Andrews, Scotland, where the finance ministers of the Group of 20 rich and developing countries are meeting.
Though some ministers may voice concerns about the dollar's continuing fall in value, analysts do not expect to see an explicit reference to currency valuations in the communique that follows the meeting.
"With too many competing views, expect much of the focus of the meeting to be on crisis exit strategies as opposed to foreign exchange," said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist at Forex.com. - Sapa-AP
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