Oil, global markets rise on US jobs data
The unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent, but only because more people were looking for a job, which is a good sign.
On balance, the report suggests the US economy is still recovering, but not so strongly that the Fed might start reining in its monetary stimulus in the next few months. The program, which increases the amount of money in the US financial system, has helped drive stock markets higher this year.
"What is still missing is the confirmation that the improvement (in the labor market) is sustained," said Harm Bandholz, the chief US economist at UniCredit Research.
Britain's FTSE 100 closed yesterday up 1.2 percent at 6,411.99 while Germany's DAX rose 1.9 percent to 8,254.68. France's CAC-40 was 1.5 percent higher at 3,872.59.
Wall Street also rose on the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.15 percent to 15,212.94 and the broader S&P 500 up 1.01 percent to 1,638.93.
Earlier, in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.2 percent to close at 12,877.53 after the yen climbed against the dollar. That pummeled Japan's exporters, which generally welcome a weaker currency to make products more competitive overseas.
Japan's stock market has in recent months been beholden to the strength of the yen, which has become hugely volatile as investors estimated the likely impact of the country's aggressive new policy to get the economy growing again.
The yen yesterday strengthened against the dollar, which was 0.25 percent lower at 97.48 yen. The euro was down 0.2 percent at $1.3221.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.2 percent to 21,571.01. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.8 percent to 1,923.85. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.9 percent to 4,737.70.
In commodity markets, the benchmark oil contract for July delivery was up $1.38 cents to $96.14 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.02 on Thursday.
Brent crude rose $ 1.21 to $104.82 a barrel, down from its session high above $ 105 and after going below $ 103. The benchmark was on track to post its strongest weekly gain since July 2012, rising 4 percent.
"Oil is taking a cue from the equity market, which obviously liked the employment data," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.
"The upside surprise versus expectation is signaling further economic improvement and energy demand."
The Fed's policy-setting committee meets on June 18-19. With data ranging from manufacturing to consumer spending showing the economy hit a soft patch early in the second quarter, it is unlikely the US central bank will announce at that meeting a lessening of the $ 85 billion in bonds it is buying each month.
Brent had been supported on Thursday by news that the Buzzard oil field in the UK North Sea had suffered a production outage, the second in less than a week. The field's normal production is about 200,000 barrels per day.
News of a fall in US oil inventories also supported prices, particularly the US benchmark.
Source: The Arab News (Agencies)