Global Markets Fall on Worries About Central Bank Tightening -- 2nd Update

Global stock markets were lower and government bond yields rose Friday as investors weighed the prospect of tighter policies by central banks around the world.

The Stoxx Europe 600 edged down 0.2% in the early minutes of trading, weighed down by energy and health care shares. That followed losses across Asia. In U.S. markets, futures pointed to a 0.1% opening gain for the S&P 500.

Hawkish signals from policy makers in Europe and the U.S. have roiled markets in recent days as investors gauge how fast central banks will be moving away from their ultra-accommodative monetary policies put in place after the financial crisis. Minutes from the European Central Bank's last meeting released Thursday showed officials are considering dropping a pledge to accelerate bond purchases.

In the U.S., traders on Friday will be looking to the U.S. June employment report, a key data point for the Federal Reserve.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect firms added 174,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.3%, on par with May's level which was the lowest in 16 years. If the unemployment rate holds or even falls, that would suggest the labor market is tightening and reinforce the Fed's plans to raise short-term rates a third time this year.

The yield on 10-year Treasurys rose to 2.386% from 2.334% on Thursday, while German 10-year bund yields were higher at 0.572%. Yields move inversely to prices.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of 16 currencies, was up 0.1% in early trading Friday.

In commodities, Brent oil prices were down 1.2% at $47.55 a barrel, extending overnight declines after data showed that U.S. oil production last week rebounded strongly. Gold was down 0.2%.

Biman Mukherji contributed to this article.

Write to Georgi Kantchev at georgi.kantchev@wsj.com and Lucy Craymer at Lucy.Craymer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 07, 2017 03:40 ET (07:40 GMT)