World stock markets dipped yesterday, putting them on track for their first decline in seven sessions in the wake of US payrolls data, while the dollar strengthened on the back of manufacturing and services data.
Wall Street was little changed, as an unimpressive payrolls report was offset by a 2.58 per cent gain in Apple a day after the iPhone maker posted quarterly results.
US job growth accelerated in October after hurricane-related disruptions in the prior month, but a sharp retreat in annual wage gains and surge in the number of people dropping out of the work force cast a cloud over the labour market.
“Wages were flat, last month we saw a little bit of a surprise bump upward in that so we were expecting a more moderate number there,” said Sean Lynch, co-head of global equity strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in Omaha, Nebraska.
Apple gave the biggest boost to each of the major Wall Street indexes after the stronger-than-expected results it reported on Thursday offered a rosy forecast for the holiday shopping season.
Long, snaking lines formed outside the company’s stores in Asia and Europe yesterday as fans flocked to buy the new iPhone X and the US company, the largest by market capitalisation, moved closer to a $1 trillion valuation.
With 406 of S&P 500 having reported earnings, 72.4 per cent have topped Wall Street expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, in line with the 72 per cent average over the past four quarters.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.51 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 23,520.77, the S&P 500 gained 0.47 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 2,580.32, and the Nasdaq Composite added 16.67 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 6,731.61.
European shares crept higher on firmer tech stocks and carmakers, though gains were limited as earnings weighed on shares of French bank Societe Generale and Dutch telecoms company Altice.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.09 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.14 per cent.
Oil prices rose to near their highest in more than two years, with buyers attracted by expectations of an extension to a global pact to cut output that has reduced oversupply.
US crude rose 0.13 per cent to $54.61 per barrel and Brent was last at $60.82, up 0.33 per cent on the day.