The National Times - Stock markets cautious after US jobs report

Non-farm payrolls rose 275,000 in February, higher than the consensus forecast of 200,000.

Stock wavered throughout the session, falling in pre-market trading as the news seemed to suggest the economy is running too hot to justify the Federal Reserve easing its monetary stance.

But the report also included downward revisions to previous months, as well as rise in the unemployment rate to 3.9 percent from 3.7 percent.

More than two hours into trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were lower and the Dow up slightly after all three had earlier been in the green.

The jobs figures didn't point to when the Fed might start easing its monetary stance.

"The Fed, having steered the economy with a steady hand thus far, is poised to maintain its cautious stance, likely resisting the clamour for rate reductions in the immediate term," said Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot.

Wall Street had reached all-time highs Thursday, lifted by Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell hinting at a more dovish tilt to monetary policy coming soon.

But in his testimony to lawmakers he also insisted the Fed needed to see more signs of winning the battle against inflation before making a move.

In Europe, Paris closed slightly higher while Frankfurt and London fell. They had been higher earlier in the session before being pulled lower by Wall Street.

Paris and Frankfurt also hit record highs Thursday after European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde hinted at cuts to eurozone interest rates starting in June.

The Fed and the ECB have jacked up interest rates to combat the inflation that spiked after Russia invaded Ukraine. Inflation rates have slowed, but are still above the central banks' targets.

But the higher rates have risked pushing countries into recession, particularly in Europe.

Official data Friday showed German industrial production rose for the first time in nearly a year in January, fuelling hopes that a manufacturing slowdown in Europe's biggest economy was bottoming out.

The US stock market has gained around 10 percent so far this year, driven higher by tech stocks, but they have started to diverge in recent weeks.

Chipmaker Nvidia is up 85 percent from the start of the year and Facebook owner Meta is up 46 percent, but Apple is down seven percent.

Another major stock, electric carmaker Tesla, has lost 29 percent.

"It's quite obvious that some differentiation is coming back into the market," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

Expectations of lower US interest rates continued to drag the dollar lower and boost gold, which Friday hit a new summit at $2,191.27 an ounce.

Leading crypto currency Bitcoin hit another record during the day, smashing through $70,000 for the first time on growing investor demand amid speculation over when the United States may begin lowering interest rates.

But the often volatile unit swiftly fell back to around $67,000 shortly afterwards.

- Key figures around 1720 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 38,869.65 points

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.3 percent at 5,144.56

New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 16,190.30

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,659.74 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 8,028.01 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 17,814.51 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,961.11 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 39,688.94 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent at 16,353.39 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,046.02 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0941 from $1.0951 on Thursday

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.16 yen from 148.07 yen

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2848 from $1.2819

Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.16 pence from 85.46 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.9 percent at $78.23 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.8 percent at $82.29 per barrel

S.Mitchell--TNT