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Stock markets across the globe rose the most in two weeks on Friday after US job growth posted a sharp, unexpected increase, while a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un gave crude oil a further boost.
The yen fell broadly after the Bank of Japan stuck to its dovish policy stance and as Kim’s pledge to refrain from further nuclear or missile tests during the proposed talks buoyed investor sentiment.
US job growth
But the dollar was otherwise little changed despite the US economy having added the largest number of jobs in more than one-and-a-half years in February, as slowing wage gains indicated only a gradual increase in inflation this year.
Wall Street led global equity gains as the US labou data landed in a sweet spot for stock investors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 440.53 points, or 1.77 per cent, to 25,335.74, the S&P 500 gained 47.6 points, or 1.74 per cent, to 2,786.57 and the Nasdaq Composite added 132.86 points, or 1.79 per cent, to 7,560.81.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended up 0.41 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 1.12 per cent, the most since February 23.
Emerging market stocks rose 1.06 per cent. Overnight, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.95 per cent higher, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.47 per cent. Crude prices rose alongside Wall Street, continuing their moves in tandem with the S&P 500. The 50-day correlation between WTI crude futures and the S&P has averaged over 0.8 so far this year.
US crude rose 3.28 per cent to $62.09 per barrel and Brent was last at $65.55, up 3.05 per cent on the day.
Yen slides
The yen fell sharply versus the US dollar after the Bank of Japan stuck to its dovish policy stance and as Kim’s denuclearisation pledge boosted risk assets. Still, the greenback slipped against a basket of currencies as the slow US wage gains supported a view that the Federal Reserve would not quicken its pace of raising interest rates.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.56 per cent versus the greenback at 106.83 per dollar. The dollar index fell 0.06 per cent.
The euro was down 0.04 per cent to $1.2305 while sterling was last trading at $1.3847, up 0.27 per cent on the day.
The Mexican peso gained 0.14 per cent versus the US dollar at 18.63. The Canadian dollar rose 0.59 per cent versus the greenback at 1.28 per dollar. US Treasury yields advanced across the board after the strong jobs data.
Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 8/32 in price to yield 2.8938 per cent, from 2.866 per cent late on Thursday. The 30-year bond last fell 16/32 in price to yield 3.1589 per cent, from 3.132 per cent late on Thursday.
Spot gold added 0.1 per cent to $1,322.91 an ounce. US gold futures gained 0.17 per cent to $1,323.90 an ounce. Copper rose 1.82 per cent to $6,957.50 a tonne.
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