Futures Decline On US Jobs, China Inflation Data

Futures on major US indices point to a lower opening Monday after US non-farm payrolls data showed that the world's biggest economy added fewer-than-expected jobs in March.

Futures on the S&P 500 are down 1.07 percent, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 0.88 percent and Nasdaq100 futures are down 1.03 percent.

On Friday, the US Labour Department said only 120,000 jobs were added in March, far below the expectations of a rise of 210,000. The weaker- than-expected employment report raised concerns about the strength of recovery in the world?s biggest economy.

However, the unemployment rate declined to the lowest level since Jan 2009. Unemployment rate was 8.2 percent in March, down from 8.3 percent in the prior month. But analysts say the decline was mainly due to more and more Americans having given up job search. The average work week declined to 34.5 hours from 34.6 hours.

Meanwhile, China?s inflation rose to 3.6 percent in March from 3.2 percent in the previous month and against economists? estimation of 3.3 percent. The stronger-than-expected data also sapped investor confidence as some analysts? expect that the rising inflation may prompt the policy makers to hold back on monetary easing for now.

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Asian stock markets ended lower for the fourth day on Monday. Japanese benchmark Nikkei plunged 1.47 percent and Chinese Shanghai Composite declined 0.90 percent, while South Korea's Seoul Composite slipped 1.57 percent.

Crude oil futures declined 1.25 percent to $101.78/barrel ahead and Copper futures fell 0.67 percent. In precious metal sector, Gold futures gained 0.74 percent and silver declined 0.11 percent.

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