GLOBAL MARKETS -Stocks jump, dollar higher in wake of US jobs numbers

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Stock indexes gained and the dollar was higher on Friday after data showed the U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected in December, supporting the view the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged this month.

The S&P 500 hit an intraday high and the STOXX 600 ended at a record. Chip stocks rose and helped to boost the S&P 500, with Intel INTC.O gaining after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had a "great meeting" with the chipmaker's Chief Executive Officer, Lip-Bu Tan.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly report showed 50,000 workers were added to nonfarm payrolls in December, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise of 60,000, just above November's downwardly revised increase of 56,000. The unemployment rate eased, as expected, to 4.4%.

Fed funds futures traders are now pricing in only a 4.8% chance of a rate cut at the Fed's Jan. 27-28 meeting, down from 11.6% before the data. The next cut is unlikely before at least April.

"Payrolls were a little bit light relative to consensus, but still fairly strong numbers," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.

"We are back to normal in terms of economic reporting so that's a bit of a relief for everyone."

Before now, the release of U.S. economic data had been delayed because of the long federal government shutdown.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 252.84 points, or 0.51%, to 49,518.95, the S&P 500 .SPX rose 53.23 points, or 0.77%, to 6,974.69 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC rose 216.38 points, or 0.92%, to 23,696.40.

All three indexes are set for weekly gains in the first full trading week of 2026, with the Dow on track for its biggest weekly gain since the last week of November.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS rose 6.01 points, or 0.58%, to 1,035.46.

European shares ended at a record high. A jump in Glencore GLEN.L helped put the STOXX 600 on its longest weekly winning streak since May. The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX index rose 0.97%.

DOLLAR, TWO-YEAR YIELDS UP

After the jobs report the dollar initially gave up almost all the day's gains versus a basket of major currencies =USD, having risen by nearly 0.2% earlier. The dollar index =USD, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, was last up 0.26% at 99.13.

Interest rate sensitive two-year Treasury yields were higher after the data, while 10-year yields were last down slightly. The 2-year note US2YT=RR yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Fed, rose 5 basis points to 3.538%, from 3.488% late on Thursday. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 1.2 basis points to 4.171%.

In commodities, crude oil ended sharply higher. Brent futures LCOc1 rose $1.35, or 2.18%, to settle at $63.34 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 gained $1.36, or 2.35%, to $59.12.

Investors have become more convinced that production in Venezuela, even under U.S. control, may not rise meaningfully for some time.

SUPREME COURT WON'T RULE ON TRUMP'S TARIFFS FRIDAY

Investors had been bracing for a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the legality of Trump's tariffs.

But the court is expected to issue its next rulings on Jan. 14. The court indicated on its website on Friday that it could release decisions in argued cases when the justices take the bench during a scheduled sitting next Wednesday.