Far worse than expected US jobs data tipped European equities into negative territory, undermined the dollar and set Wall Street on the road towards a lower open today.
The US Labour Department said there was a net decline of 131,000 jobs in July as more temporary census jobs ended while private hiring rose by a net 71,000, pointing to an anaemic economic recovery.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected today's report to show a drop of 65,000 in non-farm payrolls in July with private employers expected to have added 90,000 jobs.
Wall Street stock index futures fell after the report, as did the dollar, which was down 0.2 per cent against a basket of currencies having earlier been flat. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down nearly 1 per cent. It was up 0.4 per cent before the data.
Safe-haven bellwethers gained, with gold rising and yields on US and German benchmark bonds down.
Investors are concerned globally that the US economy is slipping back from recovery and threatening to take the rest of the world economy with it.
Reuters