Stocks on Wall Street surged in their biggest one-day gain in more than two weeks as jobs losses in the latest economic data.Official figures showed non-farm payrolls fell 36,000 in February, well below economists' consensus expectation for a drop of abou
Stocks on Wall Street surged in their biggest one-day gain in more than two weeks as jobs losses in the latest economic data.
Official figures showed non-farm payrolls fell 36,000 in February, well below economists' consensus expectation for a drop of about 75,000 driven in part by severe weather.
The unemployment rate held steady at 9.7%, better than the 9.8% rate economists expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 122.06 points higher, up 1.2%, at 10566.20, its best one-day rise in both point and percentage terms since February 16.
The average was led by less than three points off its intraday peak hit heading into the last hour of trading. The average was led by gains of more than 3% each in Alcoa, Boeing and American Express.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.5% to 2326.35, helped by a 3.9% gain in Apple after the electronics maker said its iPad device would be available in the US on April 3. The S&P 500-stock index gained 1.4% to 1138.70.
Other markets
European shares stretched a winning run to six sessions on positive signs of a US recovery.
After trading with mild gains for much of the session, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index extended its advance in mid-afternoon to a gain of 1.7% to 257.22.
Banks led the advance, with Societe Generale up 4.8% and Standard Chartered up 3.5%. Irish lenders were particularly strong, with Allied Irish Banks and the Bank of Ireland both sporting double-digit advances.
The French CAC-40 index rose 2.1% to 3910.42, the UK's FTSE 100 Index gained 1.3% to 5599.76 and the German DAX added 1.4% to 5877.3.
Asian share markets were higher, with stocks in Tokyo rising more than 2% on hopes the Bank of Japan will ease policy further.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 2.2% to 10,368.96, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% 4767.24, Korea's Kospi Composite was 1.0% higher at 1634.57, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% 3031.07, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.0% to and India's Sensex was up 0.1% at 16,994.49. Taiwan’s Taiex was 1.3% higher at 7666.26.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude oil futures rose to their highest level in seven weeks on the expectation that fuel consumption will rise as economic growth picks up pace.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled $US1.29, or 1.6%, higher at $US81.50 a barrel in New York, its highest settlement since January 11.
Oil briefly nudged above $US82 a barrel to hit an intraday peak of $US82.07 a barrel. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled $US1.35, or 1.7% higher, at $US79.89 a barrel.
Gold futures rose modestly on posotive economic news.
Lightly traded but nearby March gold rose $US2.20, or 0.2%, to settle at $US1134.80 an ounce in New York. Most-active April climbed $US2.10, or 0.2%, to $US1135.20.
Currencies: Dollar, euro up
The US dollar gained strongly on the yen but withered against currencies most tied to global growth.
The euro crept higher against the dollar, but lingering concerns over fiscally strapped Greece kept the common currency in a tight range against the greenback.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars, two currencies associated closely with global growth due to their commodity-led economies' exposure to China, gained sharply against the low-yielding greenback, while the US currency trounced the yen, seen as the ultimate safe haven.
The Australian dollar gained nearly 1% against the US dollar while the New Zealand dollar racked up a 1.6% gain.
The Canadian dollar and less-widely traded currencies, such as the Brazilian real and Swedish krona, also rose against the greenback.
The euro ended the week in New York at $US1.3620 from $US1.3591 late on Thursday.
The dollar was at ¥90.33 from ¥89.12, while the euro was at ¥123.04 from ¥121.12.
The UK pound was at $US1.5152 from $US1.5039.
