US non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 103,000 in December, short of expectations for a lift of 150,000. But there were upward revisions to payrolls in October and November totalling 70,000. Private payrolls rose by 113,000. The unemployment rate fell from 9.8pct to 9.4pct. Hourly earnings rose by just 0.1pct.

US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said that the labour market recovery could take ´´four to five more years.´´

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European shares eased slightly on Friday on caution about coming debt auctions. Portugal, Spain and Italy hold debt auctions in the coming week. The FTSEurofirst index fell by 0.2pct, with the UK FTSE lower by 0.6pct while the German Dax lost by 0.5pct. But over the week the FTSEurofirst index rose by 2pct.

US sharemarkets eased modestly on Friday as opinions diverged about the strength of the latest jobs data. The Dow Jones index fell by 22.55pts or 0.2pct with the S&P 500 down 0.2pct and the Nasdaq fell by almost 7pts or 0.25pct. Over the week the Dow rose by 0.8pct while the S&P 500 was up 1.1pct and the Nasdaq finished higher by 1.9pct.

US treasuries rose on Friday (yields lower) as stocks and commodity prices fell. There were also expectations of strong demand in the coming week´s Treasury auctions. US 2yr yields fell by 8pts to 0.597pct and US 10yr yields fell 7pts to 3.326pct. Over the week US 2yr yields were down by 3.5pts and US 10yr yields were higher by 3pts.

The US dollar was mixed against major currencies on Friday. The Euro eased from highs near US$1.3015 to US$1.2905, ending US trade near session lows. The Aussie dollar traded between US99.05c to US99.90c, before ending US trade near US99.55c. And the Japanese yen lifted from near 83.65 yen per US dollar to JPY82.85, ending US trade near JPY83.15.

US crude oil prices eased on Friday in response to a stronger US dollar but a fall in the jobless rate served to constrain losses. Also impacting on prices was a fire at a Canadian Natural Resources oil sands facility. The Nymex crude oil contract fell by US35c or 0.4pct to US$88.03 a barrel. Brent crude fell by US$1.19 to US$93.33 a barrel on Friday. Nymex oil fell by 3.7pct over the week.

Base metal prices were generally lower on the London Metal Exchange on Friday, the exception being nickel, up 0.8pct. Other metals lost 0.1-0.6pct. Over the week base metal prices were mixed with lead up 4.3pct and aluminium up 1.8pct but copper was down 2.2pct. The gold price also fell on Friday in line with oil in response to a firmer greenback with the Comex gold futures price lower by US$2.80 an ounce to US$1,368.90. Gold fell by 4pct over the week - the biggest weekly decline since May.

Ahead: In Australia, retail trade and job advertisement figures are released. In China trade data is due. In the US data on wholesale inventories is scheduled.

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