US investors brace for jobs data

US markets dropped on the opening bell as investors braced for three sets of unemployment data including Friday’s September non-farm payroll figures.

The Dow Jones fell 0.57% or 60 points to 10,747 on opening, while the S&P 500 shed 0.46% to 1,118 and the Nasdaq lost 0.71% to 2,387.

However, the leading indices clawed back some ground to move slightly positive in early trade.

The falls across the board come despite Ben Bernanke’s address to Congress yesterday which lifted markets overnight.

The Federal Reserve chairman warned the US economy is “close to faltering”, but signalled the Fed would intervene to support it.

However, he also said the US can offer little help to resolve the eurozone debt crisis, which risks undermining the US recovery.

The FTSE 100 was 2.34% higher at 5,060 at 2.30pm, and the All Share was 2.18% higher at 2,614 points, reflecting optimism on plans to recapitalise Europe’s banks.

Even an unexpected downwards revision to UK second quarter GDP, from 0.2% to 0.1%, did little to dampen sentiment. Meanwhile France and Germany’s main markets saw rises of 2.95% and 3.61% respectively.