Global stocks, U.S. dollar end lifted after labor pickup, oil gains

By Katanga Johnson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -World equities markets reached new heights on Friday after a session-long climb, booking a week of solid gains following a strong U.S. jobs report.

The , which had hit a one-year peak earlier in the session, slightly retreated in late trading as risk appetite improved and stocks rallied.

The moves came after U.S. Labor Department jobs data rebounded in a reassuring sign for investors who had worried for months about how stocks would fare once the Federal Reserve began rolling back the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic-fueled stimulus.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 531,000 jobs last month as the surge in COVID-19 infections over the summer subsided, offering more evidence that U.S. economic activity was regaining momentum early in the fourth quarter.

Global stocks have seen a series of records in recent weeks, bolstered by blockbuster earnings reports from the biggest U.S. listed companies.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six rivals, rose as high as 94.634 after the jobs report, its highest level since Sept. 25, 2020. The currency’s strengthening to its highest level in more than a year offers the Fed more evidence that the economic recovery has regained momentum.

“If these numbers continue at this pace, we could probably see full employment at the end of the first quarter,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Securities.

Crude prices rose more than 2% on Friday on renewed supply concerns after OPEC+ producers rebuffed a U.S. call to accelerate output increases even as demand nears pre-pandemic levels.

was up $2.14, or 2.7%, at $82.68 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) gained $2.47, or 3% to $81.28.

“Markets know that the release of strategic reserves can only have a temporary bearish effect on prompt prices and is not a lasting solution for an imbalance between supply and demand,” Rystad Energy head of oil markets Bjornar Tonhaugen said in a note.

The rose 0.56%, while the gained 0.37%. The added 0.2%. The pan-European index rose 0.05%.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.17%.

Friday’s advances came even after the Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it would begin tapering its massive asset purchase program, though Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he was in no rush to hike borrowing costs.

“Even though it transpired as expected, it is a significant milestone. The direction of travel is now clearly towards policy normalization, though the Fed emphasized that tapering is not tightening,” said Stefan Hofer, chief investment strategist for LGT in Asia Pacific. “It was really expert communication and very well handled.”

U.S. Treasury yields tumbled and…