ROME: European equity-index futures fell with Asian stocks after a stronger-than-estimated U.S. jobs report sent American shares and Treasuries tumbling and as Japanese economic growth was revised down. The pound rebounded, while copper fluctuated.
Contracts on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index fell 0.6 percent by 7:22 a.m. in London, while U.S. index futures were down 0.1 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.9 percent. Yields on 10-year Japanese bonds climbed four basis points as Treasury notes held near a 2015 low. The pound added 0.2 percent and the euro rose from an 11-year low versus the dollar as the European Central Bank’s bond buying program begins. Oil and copper swung between gains and losses.
A bigger-than-projected increase in U.S. payrolls and surging Chinese exports to America underscored how the world’s largest economy is diverging from others as the Federal Reserve ponders when to begin raising interest rates. The odds of a U.S. rate increase by September jumped to 60 percent, from 49 percent on Thursday, futures showed. Data Monday signaled Japan’s rebound from recession was weaker than expected.
“The market’s response to the much-awaited U.S. payrolls report was abrupt,” Kymberly Martin, a markets strategist in Wellington at Bank of New Zealand Ltd., said in a note to clients. “This will provide sufficient ammunition for the Fed to remove patience from their statement at the next meeting and undertake an initial rate hike in June.”
