Traders trim Fed rate cut bets after strong jobs report

(Reuters) – U.S. short-term interest-rate futures fell on Friday after a U.S. government report showed hiring surged unexpectedly last month, allaying concern the economy is fizzling and the central bank will need to cut interest rates to help out.

Contracts tied to the Fed’s policy rate had priced out any chance of a 2019 Fed rate hike after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday said the case for rate increases had weakened, and were pricing in about a one-in-three chance of a rate cut by the end of the year. After a Labor Department report showed employers added 304,000 jobs in January, traders reduced rate-cut bets, though they continue to bet against a rate hike.

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