Indications: U.S. futures fall as jobs data disappoint

By Simon Kennedy and Kate Gibson, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) â€" U.S. stock futures turned lower Friday after the government reported the economy added fewer than expected jobs in November, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 9.8%.

Stock-index futures shed modest gains to decline moderately after the report, a possible indication that investors are “not believing the report as much,” said Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial, who added that he would not be surprised if, as the day progresses and investors are able to digest the report, “disappointment will mount.”

“Clearly this points to how uneven this data can be, especially given in recent weeks we’ve seen generally consistently better data,” said Kleintop.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/21b!f:dj\z10 (DJZ10 11,330, -33.00, -0.29%)  fell 65 points to 11,298, and S&P 500 futures /quotes/comstock/21m!f:sp\z10 (SPZ10 1,217, -5.40, -0.44%)  declined 8.4 points to 1,214.3.

Nasdaq 100 futures /quotes/comstock/21m!f:nd\z10 (NDZ10 2,182, -5.00, -0.23%)  fell 15.5 points to 2,171.5.

The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls rose by 39,000 last month, well short of the 155,000 gain expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Read more about the payrolls report.

The steady start for futures came after U.S. markets rallied for a second straight day Thursday, as upbeat reports on retail and pending home sales helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 11,332, -29.13, -0.26%)  rise 106.63 points, or 1%.

After the markets open Friday, investors will get another round of data, including the ISM nonmanufacturing figures for November and factory orders for October.

Crude-oil futures shed gains to sit at $87.37 a barrel, while gold futures added more than $10 to almost $1,400 an ounce in New York.

The euro was up at $1.3333, while the dollar fell against the yen to ¥82.65.

U.S. economy adds 39,000 jobs

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rises to 9.8%, the highest since April, underlining continued weakness in the labor market.

On the corporate front, coal producer Walter Energy /quotes/comstock/13*!wlt/quotes/nls/wlt (WLT 105.91, +0.31, +0.29%)  plans to buy Canada’s Western Coal Corp. /quotes/comstock/11t!e:wtn (CA:WTN 11.45, +1.15, +11.17%)  in a cash-and-stock deal with an enterprise value of about $3.3 billion.

Shares in VeriFone Systems Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!pay/quotes/nls/pay (PAY 39.86, +3.10, +8.43%)  could rise after the company late Thursday forecast fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Big Lots Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!big/quotes/nls/big (BIG 29.98, -1.12, -3.59%)  cut its outlook for the year as it reported earnings of 23 cents a share for the latest quarter â€" 1 cent below the consensus forecast.

The retailer said it now expects to earn $2.75 to $2.81 a share from continuing operations for the year. Back in August, it forecast full-year earnings of $2.82 to $2.90 a share.

Simon Kennedy is the City correspondent for MarketWatch in London. Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.

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