LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. futures and European stocks slid on Friday as the U.S.-Iran war drove oil prices to their highest level in almost two years, prompting traders to wind in their bets on interest rate cuts and fret about the impact on economic growth.
Much weaker than expected U.S. jobs data, which showed non-farm payrolls unexpectedly fell sharply in February, added to concerns about the global economy. U.S. Treasury yields fell after the data and the dollar softened.
Futures for the U.S. S&P 500 ESc1 fell 1.3%, while Nasdaq futures NQc1 dropped 1.6%. Dow jones fell 1.3%
U.S. crude CLc1 oil prices jumped more than 8% to $86.70 a barrel, the highest since April 2024. Brent crude LCOc1 also rose to its highest in nearly two years at $90.21 a barrel.
The MSCI all-world stock index .MIWD00000PUS was set to drop 2.9% in the biggest weekly fall since March 2025.
Qatar expects all Gulf energy producers to shut down exports within weeks and drive oil prices to $150 a barrel, wreaking extensive economic damage, the country's energy minister told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday.
"The warning from Qatar's energy minister that a prolonged conflict could bring down economies around the world has again rattled financial markets," said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.
Data on Friday showed U.S. non-farm payrolls fell by 92,000 in February, after a rise of 126,000 the previous month. Economists had been expecting a 59,000 increase.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, compared to 4.3% in January.
Money market traders are now predicting around 45 basis points of reductions from the U.S. Federal Reserve this year. That's more than the 35 bps predicted before the jobs data, but down from roughly 55 bps a week ago.
In energy-importing Europe, traders now see a good chance the European Central Bank will raise rates this year.
U.S. 10-year Treasury yields US10YT=RR fell 2 bps on Friday to 4.125%, but were set for a weekly increase of 16 bps, the largest move since April 2025.
The dollar index =USD, which tracks the currency against six peers, dipped slightly after the data and was last up 0.1%. It remained on track for a 1.4% weekly increase, however, the most since late 2024.
