NEW YORK - A larger-than-expected rise in the number of people hired by US employers during July boosted the dollar against the yen, lifted oil prices and extended gains on world share markets on Friday.
US stocks rallied more than 1% at the opening on the data.
Non-farm payrolls rose 163,000 last month, the Labour Department said, beating economists expectations for a 100,000 gain and offering hope of improvement in the world's largest economy. It was the largest rise in payrolls in five months.
The unemployment rate, however, inched up to 8.3% from 8.2% in June. Analysts said that was likely to support expectations of further monetary stimulus by the US Federal Reserve.
"This number isn't good enough to fix the economic problem that we are in," said Ron Florance, MD of investment strategy for Wells Fargo Private Bank in Scottsdale, Arizona.
"It's a nice way to end a week of turmoil," he added.
The dollar rose to a two-week high against the yen of ¥78.77, the strongest level since July 20. It was last up 0.6% at ¥78.70. The euro rose against the greenback to be up 0.7% at $1.2272.
The MSCI world equity index extended its gains, rising 1,5%.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 172.10 points, or 1.34%, at 13,050.98. The S&P 500 index was up 20.80 points, or 1.52%, at 1,385.80.
The Nasdaq composite index was up 48.18 points, or 1.66%, at 2,957.95.
Brent and US crude futures also extended earlier price gains. Brent September crude was up $2.50 at $108.40 a barrel and US September crude rose $3.05 at $90.18 a barrel.
Reuters
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