European stock markets eased back on Wednesday as investors began to look ahead to the jobless report later this week in the United States. Meanwhile, gold struck another new record high as the dollar continued to weaken.European exchanges were mixed. The FTSE 100 in London was down a couple of points while the DAX in Frankfurt was about 4 points higher. The CAC-40 in Paris was 10 points, or 0.3 percent, higher. Earlier, exchanges in Asia pushed ahead, tracking Europe and the United States. On Tuesday, stocks were helped by an easing of tensions related to Dubai’s debt problems and further encouraging American economic data, particularly from the housing sector. On the economic news front, European Central Bank meets on Thursday and America’s unemployment report for November is Friday — the jobs data often set the tone in the markets for a week or two. In the first of three days of employment reports, the ADP National Employment Report said Wednesday that 169,000 private sector jobs were lost in November, slightly worse than the 160,000 cuts expected by economists. If over the week investors conclude that the American economy is losing steam, then that could well pave the way for an end of year bout of profit-taking following an eight-month bull run. At the moment, the consensus in the markets is that November payrolls fell by around 120,000 but the unemployment rate held steady at a 26-year high of 10.2 percent. So far this week, investor jitters related to Dubai’s debt problems have calmed down amid hopes that Dubai World, the government investment company, will have around $26 billion worth of its debts restructured. Last week, the company — with a total of $60 billion worth of debt — sent shockwaves around global financial markets when it said it was looking to postpone forthcoming debt payments until May. Dubai World is expected to meet with main creditors next week to discuss a request to delay debt payment. The hope in the markets is that the fear of contagion that gripped investors last week will not materialize. Wall Street also looks to open quietly, if down slightly. “Equity markets look set to see a degree of consolidation, although so long as the theme of dollar weakness continues to support commodity prices and concern over the Dubai issue keeps receding then arguably the rally could resume in due course,” said Ben Potter, research analyst at IG Markets in Melbourne, Australia. Earlier in Asia, Tokyo shares closed nearly 1 percent higher as investors gave a muted thumbs-up to the Bank of Japan’s new measures to offer cheap loans to commercial banks. The Nikkei 225 stock average was up 36.74 points, or 0.4 percent, at 9,608.94. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 176.42, or 0.8 percent, to 22,289.57. The dollar remained weak against the euro, trading agove $1.50. Oil prices hung above $78 after a big jump overnight while gold, which Tuesday broke above $1,200 an ounce, surged to a record of $1,218.40.

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