Global Markets: Stocks climb, dollar dips in wake of U.S. payrolls report

Global equity markets climbed on Friday, buoyed by a U.S. payrolls report that blew past expectations, while the dollar weakened after comments on inflation from some Federal Reserve officials.

U.S. job growth surged in April, with non-farm payrolls increasing by 263,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate dropped to a more than 49-year low of 3.6 percent, pointing to sustained strength in economic activity even as last year`s massive fiscal stimulus fades.

The payrolls report lifted stocks on Wall Street, with each of the major indexes firmly in positive territory, although each was still poised to post a weekly decline.

The strong report came in the wake of a Fed policy announcement on Wednesday in which some investors were anticipating the central bank to ease interest rates and recent calls from the Trump administration for a rate cut.

"Hard to find fault. From the economy point of view, this is very, very solid," said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade in Chicago.

"It supports a little bit of what Powell said that those who were hoping for him to talk about a rate cut, employment is certainly continuing at an amazing pace."

U.S. interest rate futures briefly added to losses on Friday after the jobs report as traders trimmed their bets the Federal Reserve would lower interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 117.34 points, or 0.45%, to 26,425.13, the S&P 500 gained 20.42 points, or 0.70%, to 2,937.94 and the Nasdaq Composite added 95.61 points, or 1.19%, to 8,132.39.

European shares advanced, lifted in part by gains in Adidas after its quarterly results.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.44% and MSCI`s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.60%.

Despite the strong jobs data, the dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies as traders focused on the weaker aspects in the April U.S. payrolls report such as wage growth, following a softer-than-expected report on the services sector and comments from two Fed officials on inflation.

The Federal Reserve may need to cut interest rates if the U.S. economy softens, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said in remarks that focused on his concern over persistently weak inflation, while St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said the Fed`s policy rate is "a little tight" and that current readings of inflation are uncomfortably low.

The dollar index fell 0.33%, with the euro up 0.18% to $1.1196.

Oil prices advanced but were still on pace for a weekly drop as surging U.S. output countered production losses in sanctions-hit Iran and Venezuela.

U.S. crude rose 0.97% to $62.41 per barrel and Brent was last at $71.35, up 0.85% on the day.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes last rose 9/32 in price to yield 2.5214%, from 2.552% late on Thursday, falling from a 1-1/2 week high.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)