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A surge in employment sent the share market into reverse as the prospects of further rate cuts dimmed.

The ASX 200 rose as much as 21 points before swinging to a mid-session loss of 11 points or 0.2 per cent. The index briefly surpassed the November record close of 6468 before easing back to 6841.

The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 5.2 per cent last month after a jump in part-time positions. The economy added a seasonally-adjusted 39,900 new jobs, all but 4,200 of them part-time. The surge was three times higher than economists expected, and cast doubt on the rates outlook.

A market that had started to price in further cuts next year slashed roughly 15 points off the index in under a minute after the report was released. The odds on a rate cut in February skidded from 63 per cent before the report to 44 per cent, according to interbank futures. The dollar rose a fifth of a cent to 68.67 US cents.

Market gains around the world slowed this week after an initial bump following the announcement that the US and China had agreed terms for an interim trade deal. Overnight, the S&P 500 in the US eased 0.04 per cent, ending a five-session winning run.

S&P 500 index futures ticked down a point or less than 0.1 per cent after the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump. While the Democrat-controlled House was expected to vote for impeachment, the Republican-controlled Senate is not expected to convict.

The twin pillars of the local index – banks and miners – barely moved during a low-key morning. Commonwealth Bank inched to a near-three-month high before decliningg to a loss of 0.2 per cent. NAB was the worst of the big four with a fall of 1.2 per cent. BHP slipped 0.2 per cent.

Technology was among the best of the sectors as Wisetech put on 1.3 per cent, Bravura Solutions 1.5 per cent and Xero 0.4 per cent. Gains of 1.4 per cent for Transurban and 0.9 per cent for Qantas helped lift the industrials sector 0.4 per cent.

Beach Energy dipped 3.7 per cent after acquiring a 30 per cent share in an exploration permit off the Dunedin coast of New Zealand. Network services company Service Stream jumped 11.5 per cent after a subsidiary won a ten-year contract with Sydney Water as part of a consortium.

China’s Shanghai Composite opened flat, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.2 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.1 per cent.

Brent crude futures inched up two cents or less than 0.1 per cent this morning to $US66.19 a barrel. Gold rose $2.60 or 0.2 per cent to $US1,479.20 an ounce.

What’s hot today and what’s not:

Hot today: online eSports company was the morning’s best performer at the speculative end of the market after launching its ArcadeX platform in South Africa. The company is targeting SA’s 88 million mobile phone subscribers  with a digital marketing campaign to drive traffic to ArcadeX. The company offers mobile gamers daily, weekly and monthly competitions with prizes. Shares jumped 37.5 per cent to 1.65 cents.

Not today: geologists at Kalamazoo Resources struck gold, but the share price turned red as investors sniffed at drilling results from the first three holes at the company’s Mustang prospect at Castlemaine in Victoria. Photographs of gold specks in quartz from a fourth hole currently underway were not enough to offset disappointment at assay results from the first two holes. Drilling work will stop shortly for the Christmas break and resume early next month. Shares tumbled as low as 20 cents before stabilising at 23.5 cents, a loss of 14.5 per cent.

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