Seoul Gazette - Stocks mostly rise after US jobs data

Global equities have enjoyed a largely solid start to the new year after a dismal 2022 marked by concerns about the war in Ukraine and central bank rate hikes aimed at taming soaring prices.

Wall Street opened higher after sliding the day before while European shares were also up following the latest data signalling resilience in the US labour market despite efforts to cool the economy.

"The report comes in the wake of other employment data and the Fed's (US central bank) meeting minutes this week that appeared to solidify expectations of the Fed remaining aggressive in its rate hike campaign," analysts at Charles Schwab investment firm said in a note.

The Fed, along with central banks worldwide, last year kickstarted a string of aggressive rate hikes to battle decades-high inflation.

Official data Friday showed that annual inflation in the eurozone dropped for a second month in a row, to 9.2 percent in December.

It was the first decline into single digits since September and while inflation shows signs of cooling around the world, it remains at sky-high levels.

While the central bank has raised interest rates multiple times, making borrowing more expensive, labour demand remains strong -- and officials worry that higher wages could feed into costs, supporting spending and keeping inflation high.

Friday's closely-watched government report said that US job gains exceeded expectations last month.

While unemployment is typically expected to edge up as interest rates rise, the jobless rate defied expectations as well, dipping to 3.5 percent.

"The key takeaway for this market is that the report was better than feared, meaning it was not as strong as feared," said Patrick O'Hare from Briefing.com.

"In terms of Fed policy, while job growth remains solid and the unemployment rate is low, a deceleration in wages in December and the downward revision to November will be welcome news," economist Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics said in an analysis.

Separate figures on Thursday also showed more jobs than expected were created in the US private sector last month.

- Optimism -

In Asia Friday, Hong Kong's stock market dipped after three days of gains, while Singapore, Mumbai, Wellington and Manila were also in the red.

Shanghai edged up, with help from reports saying China was considering relaxing strict rules on borrowing for property developers.

Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Bangkok and Jakarta also rose.

Still, there is a general sense of optimism in Asia as China emerges from almost three years of zero-Covid lockdowns and other strict containment measures.

There is hope that the easing of restrictions will see a boom in countries' tourism industries, and Hong Kong is a major beneficiary, with the border set to open at the weekend.

China's swift exit from zero-Covid has nonetheless caused plenty of concern as infections soar across the country and put further pressure on the already stuttering economy.

This has helped cause a slump in oil prices as investors bet on a drop in demand from the world's biggest importer of the commodity.

Although both main crude contracts were higher Friday, they are down nearly nine percent since the start of January.

- Key figures around 1445 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 7,672.63 points

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 14,457.75

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 6,794.86

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 3,974.53

New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 33,032.39

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 25,973.85 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 20,991.64 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,157.64 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0511 from $1.0524 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.1900 from $1.1909

Euro/pound: UP at 88.41 pence from 88.34 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 133.81 yen from 133.42 yen

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.5 percent at $74.80 a barrel

Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.5 percent at $79.88 a barrel

O. Petrow--BTZ