US stocks fail to extend disappointing jobs data-led early gains

After opening with modest gains on Friday, major US equity indices struggled to extend disappointing jobs data-led up-move and turned lower after Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester, talking to CNBC, advocated the need for a gradual interest rate-hikes. 

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 60 points to 18,210, while the broader S&P 500 index lost 7 points to 2,154. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped back below 5,300 mark, losing nearly 20 points.

The US monthly employment details revealed that the economy added 156K new jobs in September, the unemployment rate rose to 5% for the first time since April and average hourly earnings rose 0.2% to $25.79. Although the headline numbers were weaker than market expectations but were not weak enough to take December Fed rate-hike bets off the table.

In currency markets, the British Pound regained spotlight, with the GBP/USD pair tumbling to a fresh 31-year low level of 1.2020 during early Asian session. In other markets, gold managed to rebound to $1265, supported by a weaker greenback, while WTI crude oil witnessed a minor profit taking move from 4-month highs.