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GLOBAL MARKETS-US dollar jumps, stocks snap back on US jobs data

Published 01/05/2011, 10:57 AM
Updated 01/05/2011, 11:00 AM
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* US dollar surges, boosted by US private-sector jobs data

* Crude oil falls below $89 a barrel on dollar's strength

* Wall Street flat as data offsets decline in commodities

* Bonds turn negative after strong U.S. economic data (Adds ISM report)

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar jumped and stocks equities pared losses on Wednesday after surprisingly strong data on private sector jobs added another sign to growing evidence the U.S. economy is fully on the path to recovery.

The dollar was on pace for its best one-day gain in more than three months against the yen and in more than two weeks against the euro after U.S. private employers added 297,000 jobs in December, nearly triple analysts' forecasts.

The strong dollar pressured commodity prices, with copper prices tumbling from a record the previous day, crude oil down from 27-month highs and gold down in its biggest three-day slide since mid-November.

The U.S. dollar index <.DXY> gained more than 1.0 percent.

The unexpectedly large monthly jump in U.S. private sector jobs as reported by ADP Employer Services led German bunds to turn negative and the price of U.S. Treasury securities to fall.

When the Institute for Supply Management later said its index of U.S. services sector activity rose to 57.1 in December, up from expectations of 55.6, global equities trimmed losses and turned some U.S. and European stock indices positive.

"It really flows into this narrative that we're seeing improvements across all sectors of the U.S. economy," Greg Salvaggio, vice president of trading at Tempus Consulting in Washington, said about the ISM report.

"And really the ADP jobs report this morning reinforces the view that companies are beginning to hire again," he said.

World stocks, as measured by MSCI <.MIWD00000PUS>, were down about 0.7 percent, bit within a few points of highs last seen in the third quarter of 2008.

On Wall Street the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 26.64 points, or 0.23 percent, at 11,664.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 1.98 points, or 0.16 percent, at 1,268.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 1.03 points, or 0.04 percent, at 2,682.28.

In Europe, pan-regional Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> pared losses and was down 0.4 percent, but the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> in London was up about 0.1 percent.

Analysts said the ADP survey bodes well for U.S. Labor Department data due Friday on nonfarm payrolls for December. Some economists revised upward their forecast for Friday's data, which is expected to show gains of 140,000 overall jobs.

The dollar was up against a basket of major currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> up 1.06 percent at 80.284.

The euro slid 1.20 percent at $1.3142, and against the yen, the dollar rose 1.28 percent at 83.08.

The strong dollar sapped investor appetite for crude oil and other commodities, despite signs of tighter oil supply fundamentals in the world's top consumer, the United States.

Oil staged a sharp rally in late December, helping to make commodities the top performing asset class in 2010, but prices have since retreated as part of a wider commodities sell-off.

U.S. crude futures to an intra-day trough of $88.10 a barrel, the lowest since Dec. 20.

Spot gold prices fell $11.56 to $1,368.60 an ounce.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note slipped 17/32 in price to yield 3.4027 percent.

Earlier, Japan's Nikkei <.N225> closed down nearly 0.2 percent after hitting a 7-1/2 month closing high on Tuesday. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Emily Flitter in New York; Emma Farge and Silvia Antonioli in London; Writing by Herbert Lash)

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