* Wall Street wobbles as U.S. jobs data stoke jitters over
rate hike
* Longer-dated Treasuries outperform short-dated maturities
* U.S. dollar index sees highest level since late April
* Gold set for longest weekly losing streak since 1999
(Updates market action, adds quote, graphic links)
By Richard Leong
NEW YORK, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street stock prices fell
and U.S. bond prices rose on Friday after the monthly U.S.
employment data came close enough to forecast to stoke bets the
Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time in
nearly a decade perhaps as early as September.
The U.S. Labor Department said employers added 215,000 jobs
in July, slightly below a Reuters poll of 223,000 jobs, but the
unemployment rate held at a seven-year low of 5.3 percent and
there were signs that wages were beginning to pick up.
ID:nLNN7JEBEB
"It should be enough to get the Fed to start moving," Erik
Wytenus, global investment specialist at J.P. Morgan Private
Bank in New York, said of the July U.S. payrolls report.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Graphics:
U.S. payrolls
http://link.reuters.com/duz35w
U.S. payrolls growth by administration
http://link.reuters.com/hyp84w
2015 asset performance in dollars
http://link.reuters.com/pes94w
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
The prospect of higher U.S. interest rates has made the
dollar significantly more attractive to investors in the past
year, which in turn has lowered demand for commodities and
crimped U.S. corporate earnings from exports.
The U.S. dollar index .DXY , which tracks the greenback
versus a basket of euro EUR= , yen JPY= and four other
currencies, reached 98.334, its highest since late April before
turning lower to 97.604, down 0.2 percent from Thursday. FRX/
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell
44.97 points, or 0.26 percent, to 17,374.78, the S&P 500 .SPX
shed 5.66 points, or 0.27 percent, at 2,077.90 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC lost 11.67 points, or 0.23 percent, at
5,044.77. .N
European's top shares fell 0.9 percent at 1,574.37 .FTEU3
after data showed German exports and industrial output falling
in June, a setback that underlined the need for central bank
stimulus in the euro zone. .EU
Tokyo's Nikkei .N225 ended up 0.3 percent. .T
The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
shares in 45 nations, fell 0.25 percent, to 422.14.
In debt markets, the U.S. yield curve flattened as
longer-dated bond prices rose with traders believing a possible
Fed rate hike would erode the value of shorter maturity debt
faster than longer dated bonds.
Short term interest rate markets signaled traders were
pricing higher the chances the U.S. central bank would end its
near zero rate policy at its September, but it remained a close
call. ID:nL1N10I0YU
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries notes US10YT=RR were up
17/32 in price for a yield of 2.173 percent, down six basis
points from Thursday, while two-year notes US2YT=RR slipped
1/32 for a 0.725 percent, up nearly two basis points. US/
Oil prices remained under pressure on worries about
oversupply and weak global demand, but gold bucked the trend
although by not enough to see the precious metal avoid its
longest weekly losing streak since 1999.
Oil posted its sixth consecutive week of losses, the longest
run since the start of the year. Brent crude LCOc1 settled
down 91 cents, or 1.84 percent, at $48.61 a barrel. U.S. crude
CLc1 settled down 79 cents, or 1.77 percent, at $43.87 per
barrel. O/R
Spot gold prices XAU= rose $2.59 or 0.24 percent, to
$1,091.60 an ounce, rebounding from an earlier low of $1,082.76.
GOL/