By Lawrence Delevingne and Iain Withers
BOSTON/LONDON (Reuters) -Global stocks advanced as investors raised their bets on the prospect of a U.S. interest rate cut this month after payrolls data showed strong job growth in November, while the euro dipped against the dollar as political turmoil gripped France.
Futures markets put an 85% chance on the U.S. Federal Reserve cutting rates by 25 basis points at its Dec. 17-18 meeting after the data, compared with 68% earlier in the session.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 227,000 jobs last month after rising an upwardly revised 36,000 in October, in a month hit by hurricanes and strikes. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls accelerating by 200,000 jobs.
"Data this morning was a Thanksgiving buffet with payrolls spot on, revisions positive, but unemployment ticking higher despite the participation rate falling," Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector investing at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) Asset Management, said.
"This print doesn't kill the holiday spirit and the Fed remains on track to deliver a cut in December," Rosner added in an email.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose on Friday, up 0.25% and 0.8% respectively, further bolstered by upbeat forecasts from Lululemon Athletica (O:LULU) , Ulta Beauty (O:ULTA) and other companies. The Dow was down slightly, with a 5% drop in UnitedHealth Group (N:UNH) shares weighing on the index.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe added about 0.2%.
Treasury yields dipped to a six-week low after the release of the payrolls data, with the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes down 2.9 basis points to 4.153%, while the 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 4.8 basis points to 4.098%.
The U.S. dollar index ticked up 0.3% to $106.05 following the jobs report.
Strategists at TD (TSX:TD) Securities said there was a "high hurdle" for the dollar to extend recent gains. "We think the path of least resistance remains for some USD weakness, offering a great opportunity to buy the dip in early 2025," they wrote in a client note on Friday.
European shares eked out gains on Friday, with French stocks logging their biggest daily rise in three weeks as investors factored in a potential budget despite ongoing political uncertainty, while also parsing an upbeat U.S. jobs report.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (STOXX) was up 0.2%, logging its seventh consecutive day in advances and its strongest weekly performance in ten.
In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan reversed earlier losses to be up 0.2% thanks to a rally in Chinese shares, making up for investor caution around political turmoil in South Korea.
Chinese shares had climbed to three-week highs as investors scooped up technology shares ahead of a top-level policy meeting next week that will set the agenda and targets for China's economy next year.
The risk premium investors demand to hold French debt rather than German Bunds dropped to a two-week low on Friday, after President Emmanuel Macron said he would appoint a new prime minister soon to get a 2025 budget approved by parliament.
The euro had rallied on Thursday, on market relief that France had avoided a more volatile political outcome for now. The euro was last down about 0.23% at $1.056.
BITCOIN REVERSAL
Bitcoin, which hit the $100,000 mark for the first time on Thursday as investors bet on a friendly U.S. regulatory shift, initially ran into profit-taking, tumbling as far as $92,092. Prices then rebounded, last trading up 2.3% on the day around $101,300.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday said he was appointing former PayPal (O:PYPL) chief operating officer David Sacks as his "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar," another step towards overhauling U.S. blockchain-related policy.
"This spike in volatility over the last 24 hours has the hallmarks of a classic blow-off top," said Tony Sycamore, analyst at IG.
Oil prices fell around 1.5% and were headed for weekly losses as analysts projected a supply surplus next year on floundering demand despite an OPEC+ decision to delay output hikes and extend deep production cuts to the end of 2026.
Gold prices inched up on Friday to $2,632 an ounce.