Macro Roundup (Jan 6)

SHANGHAI, Jan 6 —This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

The dollar jumped on Thursday after data pointed to a strong jobs market a day before Friday’s highly anticipated employment report for December, supporting the prospect that the Federal Reserve could keep hiking rates at an aggressive pace.

Private employment increased by 235,000 jobs last month, the ADP National Employment report showed on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private jobs increasing 150,000.

Separately, the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a three-month low last week, while layoffs fell 43% in December.

Friday’s government jobs and wage data for December is this week’s major economic focus as investors gauge how high the U.S. central bank is likely to raise rates, and for how long.

It is expected to show that employers added 200,000 jobs in the month, while average hourly earnings are predicted to have risen 0.4% in December for an annual increase of 5%.

U.S. stock futures rose slightly on Thursday night as investors looked ahead to the December jobs report Friday. Strong jobs data earlier in the day led to declines in the major averages as it pointed to further rate hikes ahead.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 42 points, or 0.13%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.19% and 0.21%, respectively.

During the regular session Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 339.69 points, or 1.02%. The S&P 500 declined 1.16%, while the Nasdaq Composite closed 1.47% lower. A stronger-than-expected ADP private payrolls report Thursday weighed on the major indexes.

Oil prices rose nearly 2% on Thursday after posting the biggest two-day loss for the start of a year in three decades with U.S. data showing lower fuel inventories providing support and economic concerns capping gains.

Big declines in the previous two days were driven by worries about a global recession, especially since short-term economic signs in the world’s two biggest oil consumers, the United States and China, looked weak.

Pushing prices higher on Thursday, U.S. gasoline stocks fell 346,000 barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 486,000-barrel drop.​

Gold prices slipped more than 1% on Thursday, retreating from a near seven-month peak hit in the last session, as reports of a tighter-than-expected U.S. labor market boosted expectations of higher interest rates for longer.

Spot gold dropped 1.5% to $1,827.14 per ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 1.4% to $1,833.40.

European markets dipped Thursday as global markets digested strong jobs data from the U.S. and hawkish Federal Reserve minutes.

After climbing to a three-week high over the last three sessions, the pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.15% lower provisionally.