US and European stocks fell more than 2 percent on Thursday after US government data showed the US economy shed more jobs than expected in June, dampening the outlook for an economic turnaround. The US jobs data boosted the safe-haven appeal of Treasuries and the dollar, sending the greenback up against major currencies and driving up the price of US government bonds. Oil prices fell about 4 percent. After the Standard & Poor's 500 in the second quarter posted its best performance since the fourth quarter of 1998, investors have been looking for evidence of a sustainable economic recovery before buying stocks further. The Labor Department said US employers cut 467,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent from 9.4. The world's biggest economy was expected to have lost 363,000 non-farm jobs, while the unemployment rate was seen ticking up to 9.6 percent. “Rising unemployment is bad for the entire economy,” said Sasha Kostadinov, portfolio manager at Shaker Investments in Cleveland, Ohio. “It's not positive for discretionary stocks. It's not positive for financials - because there's a direct correlation between the high unemployment rate and charge-offs and delinquent payments.” The Dow Jones industrial average fell 223.32 points, or 2.63 percent, to close at 8,280.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 26.91 points, or 2.91 percent, at 896.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 49.20 points, or 2.67 percent, at 1,796.52. The New York Stock Exchange extended trading by 15 minutes beyond the regular closing time due to connectivity glitches. US markets will be closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday, with the Fourth of July falling on Saturday this year. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 2.6 percent to close at 843.0 points. Unemployment in the euro zone hit 9.5 percent in May, the highest level in 10 years, the European Central Bank reported on Thursday. Stocks in Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American markets also were lower. Japan's benchmark Nikkei closed down 63.78 points at 9,876.15, partly on caution ahead of the US jobs data. In the US Treasury market, the benchmark 10-year note was up 12/32, with the yield at 3.5023 percent, versus Wednesday's close of 3.55 percent. In currency markets, the euro was down about 1 percent at $1.4004 from a previous session close of $1.4150. The dollar was up against a basket of major trading-partner currencies, with the US Dollar Index up 0.83 percent at 80.297 from a previous session close of 79.634. Demand for the euro fell after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said euro-zone activity would likely remain weak for the rest of the year, analysts said. The European Central Bank, as expected, kept interest rates unchanged at 1 percent. Also dimming some investors' views, Moody's downgraded its ratings for euro zone member Ireland to Aa1 from Aaa over concern about its debt. US crude oil prices dropped as the US government jobs data sparked more concern about oil demand. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, August crude fell $2.58 to settle at $66.73 a barrel. Next week's focus could be the Group of Eight summit in Italy after G8 sources said Beijing has asked for a debate on proposals for a new global reserve currency and the issue could be referred to briefly in the summit statement.
