Stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index snapping a two-day rally, and the dollar weakened after America added fewer jobs than forecast and the unemployment rate unexpectedly increased. Gold rallied, while Treasuries trimmed an earlier advance. The S&P 500 lost 0.2 percent at 10:12 a.m. in New York following its biggest back-to-back gain since September. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 0.4 percent. The Dollar Index fell 0.9 percent. Gold climbed 1.3 percent to $1,403.68 an ounce. Ten-year Treasury yields fell one basis point to 2.98 percent, while rates on Irish and Portuguese debt dropped more than 20 basis points. The ruble rose the most in two weeks versus the dollar after Russia was named host of soccer’s 2018 World Cup. The S&P 500 retreated from an almost one-month high after the 39,000 gain in payrolls was less than the most pessimistic projection of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, damping optimism triggered by higher-than-estimated home sales and retail purchases yesterday. The European Central Bank bought Portuguese and Irish debt today, according to people with knowledge of the transactions. “The jobs report is a bit of a shocker after all the good data we’ve seen,” said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Minneapolis-based Wells Capital Management, which manages $342 billion. “It’s a bad number and now investors will be even more skittish, waiting to get a sense on whether it sets a whole new direction or not. We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, investors will be just disappointed.” About three stocks fell for every two that rose in the S&P 500. General Electric Co. dropped 0.6 percent and AT&T Inc. slipped 1 percent. The dollar weakened against 14 of its 16 major peers, sinking 1.1 percent to 82.89 yen. Service Industries Stocks briefly pared losses after service industries expanded in November at the fastest pace in six months, showing the U.S. recovery is broadening out as the year comes to a close. The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index, which covers about 90 percent of the economy, rose to 55 last month from 54.3 in October. A reading higher than 50 signals growth. The U.S. jobless rate rose to 9.8 percent, the highest since April, while hours worked and earnings stagnated, according to the Labor Department. European equities erased earlier gains, with three stocks declining for every two that rose. Standard Chartered Plc lost 2.5 percent and Barclays Plc dropped 2.6 percent. GN Store Nord A/S fell 4.2 percent after Telekomunikacja Polska SA filed a complaint over an arbitration procedure. Ruble Rallies The ruble appreciated 0.5 percent against the dollar. Russia’s Micex Index advanced 0.7 percent to the highest level since July 2008 as OAO Novolipetsk Steel and OAO Severstal surged more than 3 percent. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index pared earlier gains after the U.S. jobs report, climbing 0.4 percent. The extra yield, or spread, that investors demand to hold 10-year Irish securities instead of benchmark German bunds fell 36 basis points to 533 basis points, while the Portuguese-German spread narrowed 27 basis points to 307 basis points. The ECB bought Irish government bonds today, according to four traders with knowledge of the transactions. The central bank also purchased Portuguese debt, said three of the people, who asked not to be identified because the deals are confidential. An ECB spokesman in Frankfurt declined to comment. To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Sillitoe in London at psillitoe@bloomberg.net

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