Big day for markets tomorrow with U.S. employment data

The U.S. Dow Jones recovered to close up 20 points at 12,062.  U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke helped to revitalise the U.S. indices after he told reporters that recent economic data suggests that "a self-sustaining recovery in consumer and business spending may be taking hold" and said he expects the economy to grow at a faster pace in 2011. Bernanke minimised inflation pressures, which he said, in addition to a still-high unemployment rate, continues to justify the Fed's accommodative monetary policy and asset purchase program.

The markets will be highly geared tomorrow to the much anticipated U.S. non-farm payroll unemployment data for January. Economists are expecting payrolls to climb by145,000 in January after rising 103,000 in December. Expect a sluggish U.K. market until the news is confirmed before the U.S market open

U.S. employment data casts further shadow on the market

The U.S. non-farm payrolls employment dropped by 20,000 in January, compared with an expected increase of 15,000. But the unemployment rate unexpectedly moved lower to 9.7%, compared with expectations of 10%. The Dow industrials was recently down 31 pts to 9972 after the news which highlights the fragility of the U.S. labour market and potential weakness of the economic recovery.
 On significant weakness in oil stocks, position increased in Nighthawk Energy at 27p, which fell 7% on the day. Overall the portfolio has suffered steep falls this week, particularly in speculative stocks.