GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, dollar higher in wake of US jobs report

(Updates to late morning )

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Stocks gain after jobs data

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December nonfarm payrolls rise less than forecast

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Dollar initially pares gains after data

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Amanda Cooper

NEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Stock indexes gained and the dollar was higher on Friday after data showed the U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected in December, supporting the view the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged this month.

The Bureau ?of Labor Statistics monthly report showed 50,000 workers were added to nonfarm payrolls in December, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise of ?60,000, just above November's downwardly revised increase of 56,000. The unemployment rate eased, as expected, to 4.4%.

Fed funds futures traders ?are now pricing in only a 4.8% chance of a rate cut at ?the Fed's January 27-28 meeting, ?down from 11.6% before the data. The next cut appears unlikely before at least April.

"Payrolls were a little bit light relative to consensus, but still fairly ?strong numbers," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder ?in New York.

"We are back to normal in terms of economic reporting so that's a bit of a relief for everyone."

The release of U.S. economic data had been delayed because of ?the long federal government shutdown.

The S&P 500 hit a ?record intraday ?high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 213.52 points, or 0.43%, to 49,480.41, the S&P 500 rose 35.68 points, or 0.52%, to 6,957.36 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 161.99 points, or 0.69%, to 23,640.92. All three indexes ?are set for weekly gains in the first full trading week of 2026, with the Dow on track for its biggest weekly gain since the last week of November. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 4.55 points, or 0.44%, to 1,034.00. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.96%.

DOLLAR UP, YIELDS DOWN

After the jobs report the dollar initially gave up almost all the day's gains versus a basket of major currencies, having risen by nearly 0.2% earlier. The ?dollar index, which ?measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, was last up 0.28% to 99.16.

U.S. Treasury yields were down slightly after initially rising on the data. The yield ?on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 1.2 basis points to 4.171%, from 4.183% late on Thursday.

SUPREME COURT WON'T RULE ON TRUMP'S TARIFFS FRIDAY Investors had been bracing for a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump's tariffs. But the court is expected to issue its next rulings on January 14. The court indicated on its website on Friday that it could release decisions in argued cases when the justices take the bench during a scheduled sitting next Wednesday.

In commodities, crude oil was sharply higher. ?U.S. crude rose 2.87% to $59.42 a barrel and Brent rose to $63.53 per barrel, up 2.48% on the day.

Investors have become more convinced that production in Venezuela, even under U.S. control, may not rise meaningfully for some time.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York and Amanda Cooper in London; ?additional reporting by Sophie Kiderlin in London and reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Hugh Lawson)