Europe Stocks Slips, U.S. awaits Jobs Report; Dollar Gains and Markets Wraps

European stocks dropped and U.S. futures turned lower, while bonds were mostly in a holding pattern, as investors await the key American jobs report. The dollar strengthened and crude oil fell.

The Stoxx Europe 600 retreated at the end of a bullish week and the euro slipped after German factory orders came in far weaker than expected. Futures on

the S&P 500, Nadaq and Dow Jones declined. Earlier, benchmarks in Japan, China and South Korea rose along with Australian stocks. The 10-year Treasury yield edged higher from a two-and-a-half-year low. Gold dipped, though still headed for the longest stretch of weekly gains since 2011.

As the keenly-awaited U.S. jobs data approaches, the German factory numbers provided more fodder for bond bulls anticipating policy easing by major central banks. The American employment report may help to shape expectations for the Fed’s meeting at the end of this month, though it would take a significant rebound to shake the market’s conviction that the central bank is poised to lower rates.

“A number in line with consensus probably delivers that July cut and I think that’s what the market wants to see,” Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group, said on Bloomberg Television. “If we get a really strong number, I think risk could really come off the table.”

Elsewhere, iron-ore prices tumbled after China’s largest steel-industry group urged officials to maintain order after the commodity’s recent surge to a five-year high, which has put pressure on the nation’s steel mills.

Here are some key events coming up:

• The U.S. jobs report is due Friday and is projected to show non-farm payrolls rose by 160,000 in June, rebounding from 75,000 the month prior.

Here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Futures on the S&P 500 Index fell 0.2% as of 10:12 a.m. London time, the first retreat in more than a week.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 0.4% to the biggest dip in almost three weeks.
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index dipped 0.3%, the largest decrease in two weeks.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.1%.
• The MSCI Emerging Market Index decreased 0.2%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2%.
• The euro dipped 0.2% to $1.1262, the weakest in two weeks.
• The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2555, the weakest in more than two weeks.
• The Japanese yen decreased 0.2% to 108.04 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased two basis points to 1.96%.
• Britain’s 10-year yield gained one basis point to 0.684%.
• Germany’s 10-year yield gained one basis point to -0.39%.

Commodities

• Gold declined 0.2% to $1,413.88 an ounce.
• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.4% to $56.56 a barrel.
• Iron ore sank 5.5% to $108.00 per metric ton, the largest tumble in more than two years.
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