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| - Wall Street brushed off data released on Friday showing the US economy adding jobs as US-Chinese tensions mount and a standoff over fresh stimulus continues. The monthly US non-farm payrolls market report had been eagerly awaited as the first important indication of how a recent surge in infections that has sparked a second round of business closures has affected the economy. The report showed that the US economy added 1.8 million jobs in July, far fewer than in May and June, but more than economists had been expecting. Meanwhile the unemployment rate fell to 10.2 percent from 11.1 percent, also better than consensus expectations. However that still leaves the unemployment rate at slightly worse than the depth of the global financial crisis in October 2009 and less than half the 22 million payroll jobs lost during the pandemic have been regained. The employment report "can fairly be labeled better than feared," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick J. O'Hare. "The key takeaway from the report is that the labor market is recovering from the shock of the COVID-induced seizure, but still has a long way to go," he added. Other analysts put a more negative spin on the report. "The non-farm payroll report confirmed economic data is plateauing and that the third quarter rebound everyone expected is not happening," said Edward Moya at online currency trading firm Oanda. For David Madden at CMC Markets UK, "now that the jobs report is out of the way, dealers will turn their attention back to China, and the squabbling over the coronavirus stimulus plan at home." Wall Street opened lower and the three main indices remained there approaching midday. They followed Asian stock markets which had moved down on a new China-US political flare-up after President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring US residents from doing any business with the Chinese parent companies of social media platforms TikTok and WeChat, citing national security concerns. The move, which comes into force next month, is the latest salvo in a tech stand-off between the superpowers and adds to a laundry list of issues they have butted heads over in recent months, including Hong Kong, Huawei and the coronavirus. Shares in WeChat parent Tencent sank 10 percent at one point in Hong Kong before ending down almost six percent. "The US government is expected to follow up with more measures targeting Tencent," said Steven Leung, at UOB Kay Hian. The latest tensions overshadowed data showing a surprise jump in Chinese exports for July. The mood on Wall Street has also been soured by US lawmakers' slow negotiations on new economic stimulus against a backdrop of surging virus infections. The United States has seen a major coronavirus resurgence since the end of June, adding 2,060 deaths in 24 hours alone Thursday, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University showed. Meanwhile, the dollar, which has weakened in recent weeks on US economic concerns resulting in record-highs for haven investment gold above $2,000 an ounce, rebounded. "The US-China tensions helped the dollar this morning as the flight to quality play boosted the currency," said CMC Markets' Madden. London - FTSE 100: less than 0.1 percent at 6,032.18 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.7 percent at 12,674.88 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP less than 0.1 percent at 4,889.52 (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 3,247.81 New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 27,299.22 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 22,329.94 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 1.6 percent at 24,531.62 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 3,354.04 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1789 from $1.1884 at 2100 GMT Dollar/yen: UP at 105.85 yen from 105.52 yen Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3058 from $1.3145 Euro/pound: DOWN at 90.31 pence from 90.34 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.4 percent at $41.38 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.2 percent at $44.54 a barrel burs-rl/
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