GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, dollar jump after US jobs data beat; AI worries simmer below the surface

LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures and the dollar jumped on Wednesday, after data showed the U.S. economy created far more jobs than expected in January, which could make it more difficult for the Federal Reserve to keep cutting rates this year.

Labor Department data showed 130,000 workers were added to nonfarm payrolls in January, well above forecasts for a rise of 70,000, while both November and December were revised down a touch.

The unemployment rate ticked lower to 4.3% from 4.4% in December, below forecasts for a reading of 4.4%.

"This will likely see the Fed continue to hold rates where they are until data suggests other remedies are required, and likely puts pressure on prospective chair Kevin Warsh as President Trump continues to demand rate cuts in the immediate future," Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter, said.

Futures on the U.S. S&P 500 .ESc1 and the tech-dominated Nasdaq NQcv1 rose 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively, having both traded 0.1% higher earlier on.

The dollar rallied against a basket of major currencies =USD, gaining 0.21% on the day, having traded down 0.17% prior to the payrolls report.

In Europe, trading was dominated by jitters about artificial intelligence disruption, this time sweeping shares in asset managers lower, having hit the insurance and software sectors in the last week. Europe's benchmark STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.3% to hit new record highs.

Benchmark stock indexes have continued to trade near all-time highs despite worries about AI hitting certain sectors, as investors have pivoted towards companies they see as less likely to be negatively affected.

"Large language models can't simply create replacements for medicines and raw materials," said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown. "Surging energy and rare earths demand can be taken as a positive for some key industries."

On the currency markets, the dollar briefly cut its losses against the Japanese yen JPY=, which has rallied over the past few days, marking a potential shift in investor thinking since Sunday's landslide election victory for Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

The yen JPY= was last up nearly 0.5% on the day at 153.4 per dollar, having traded at 153.6 right before the U.S. jobs report. It has gained about 2.5% on the dollar since Takaichi's sweeping victory on Sunday, confounding some expectations that concern about her stimulus plans would keep pressure on the currency and on bonds.

Gold XAU= pared some of the day's gains as the dollar rallied to trade up 0.6% at $5,050 an ounce, from around $5,076 earlier, while bitcoin BTC= was down around 1.8% at $67,429, but clear of the lows of the day at $66,360.