Shares meander after US jobs data, oil jumps on Venezuela blockade

By Rae Wee

SINGAPORE, ‌Dec 17 (Reuters) - Global share markets drifted on Wednesday after a mixed U.S. jobs reading failed to move the needle on the rate outlook there, leaving ‍investors awaiting ‌fresh cues for their next moves.

Oil prices climbed after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered "a total and complete" blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving ⁠Venezuela, raising fresh geopolitical tensions at a time of concerns over demand.

U.S. crude futures ‌advanced 1.3% to $55.97 per barrel, while Brent crude futures rose 1.15% to $59.60 a barrel, cutting into steep losses from Tuesday. Oil prices slid as the prospect of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal appeared to strengthen, raising expectations sanctions could be eased.

In the broader market, stocks drifted higher as investors mostly looked past Tuesday's long-awaited U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.

While jobs growth rebounded more than expected in ⁠November following its biggest drop in nearly five years in October, the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, the highest in more than four years. But analysts said there was a lot of noise in the ​data, which was impacted by the government's record 43-day shutdown.

"Associated data collection issues will leave many sceptical ‌about reading too deeply into these latest jobs figures," said Nick Rees, ⁠head of macro research at Monex Europe.

"Nevertheless, we still think the overall takeaway remains a sense that the U.S. labour market is softening at a faster rate than policymakers had anticipated, even if there is room to question just how worrying this weakness really is."

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained ​0.24%, helped by Chinese markets, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.35%.

Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures were flat, after a mixed cash session on Wall Street.

Fed funds futures suggest markets are still pricing in roughly two U.S. rate cuts next year, with the latest labour market reading doing little to shift expectations.

The next key data point for investors will be Thursday's release of the U.S. November inflation report.

"For now, our base case remains two 25-bps rate cuts in the first half of next ​year at the ‍March and June FOMC meetings, with the risks skewed ​toward more rather than fewer cuts in 2026," economists at Wells Fargo said in a note.

U.S. Treasury yields were little changed after falling overnight, with the benchmark 10-year yield last at 4.1606%, and the two-year yield at 3.4995%. [US/]

In China, shares of AI chipmaker MetaX Integrated Circuits jumped nearly 600% in their Shanghai debut, as China speeds up the flotations of homegrown AI chipmakers to reduce reliance on U.S. majors.

The CSI300 blue-chip index edged up 0.6%, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose a marginal 0.08%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.07%.

CENTRAL BANK DECISIONS ON TAP

Outside of the United States, investors are awaiting policy decisions from the Bank of England (BoE), the European Central Bank (ECB) ⁠and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) this week.

The BoE is expected to cut rates, while investors are wagering the ECB will stand pat and the BOJ will increase rates.

That kept currency moves largely subdued, though the dollar made slight gains with ​the euro down 0.07% at $1.1739 and the yen off 0.17% at 154.98 per dollar.

Sterling eased a touch, down 0.07% at $1.3412, ahead of British inflation data due later in the day, where a major surprise could make the BoE's knife-edge vote even more uncertain.

Data on Tuesday showed Britain's unemployment rate hit its highest level since the start of 2021 and private-sector pay growth was the weakest in nearly five years in the three months to ‌October.

"Expectations are for the same stagflationary combination that is making monetary policy unusually difficult, namely a labour market that continues to shed jobs and stubbornly high inflation significantly above the central bank's target," said Enrique Diaz-Alvarez, chief economist at Ebury.

Elsewhere, spot gold rose 0.2% at $4,312.34 an ounce. [GOL/]

(Reporting by Rae Wee; Editing by Sam Holmes and Neil Fullick)