U.S. stocks
opened mostly lower after a highly-awaited jobs report said the
economy created 271,000 jobs in October - the biggest rise this year.
The unexpectedly strong numbers further lifted expectations toward a
December rate increase. The main gauges are still looking to log modest
weekly gains.
The S&P 500 opened 2 points, or 0.1%, lower to 2,098. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 32 points, or 0.2%, to 17,897. The Nasdaq Composite began the day flat at 5,128.
Solid growth in the number of U.S. jobs last month greatly boosts the case for a December interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, where policymakers have begun to worry the economy might eventually overheat without higher borrowing costs.
With top Fed policy-makers already saying they don't want or expect the jobless rate
to dip much further, it would likely take a painful blow in the
November hiring data or mayhem in financial markets for the majority of officials to give up on their hopes of a liftoff at their December 15-16 policy meeting, Reuters says.
Odds of a December rate increase have now jumped to over 60%. Economists at Barclays, for example, have revised their forecast of an interest rate increase to December from March.
Meanwhile, prices for commodities have taken a blow with December Comex gold dipping 1.39% to trade at $1,089.20, December Comex silver losing 1.49% to trade at $14.760 an ounce. December Comex copper was last trading at $2.244 a pound, down 0.5%.
