The renewed optimism encouraged investors to buy risk
assets such as stocks, while lifting both commodities and the
dollar as investors bet a growing economy would boost interest
rates and demand for raw materials. [ID:nN05151726]
"It was a risk appetite event," said Michael Woolfolk,
senior currency strategist at BNY Mellon in New York. "The fact
that the U.S. labor market is in better shape than we were
thinking supports the U.S. recovery story and it encourages
market participants to put on risky trades."
The dollar rose to as high as 90.58 yen, its strongest
level against the Japanese currency in more than a week, and
crude oil hit a seven-week high above $82 a barrel before
paring some gains.
Those price moves were in contrast to a recent trend in
which commodity prices have risen when the dollar is weaker; a
weaker dollar makes dollar-denominated purchases cheaper for
holders of other currencies.
U.S. Treasury prices, meanwhile, fell on news that U.S.
non-farm payrolls cut only 36,000 jobs and unemployment was
unchanged at 9.7 percent, indicating heavy snowstorms across
much of the United States last month barely harmed employment.
Analysts polled by Reuters expected 50,000 job cuts and a
9.8 percent jobless rate. [ID:nN04252324]
"This was the number people were fearing, and that we got
through it like this is very positive for the long run," said
Marc Pado, market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in San
Francisco.
Shares of Apple Inc <AAPL.O> rose almost 4 percent to hit
both intraday and closing all-time highs after announcing its
much hyped iPad computer would arrive in U.S. stores in April.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 122.06
points, or 1.17 percent, at 10,566.20. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> climbed 15.73 points, or 1.40 percent, at
1,138.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 34.04
points, or 1.48 percent, at 2,326.35.
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> gained 1.4
percent.
The euro <EUR=> was up 0.31 percent at $1.3621, and against
the yen, the dollar <JPY=> was up 1.38 percent at 90.30.
The dollar fell against a basket of major currencies, with
the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> down 0.13 percent at 80.453.
U.S. Treasuries fell sharply in their worst sell-off in
nearly a month after the U.S. jobs data fueled economic
recovery hopes and worries over Federal Reserve interest rate
hikes. Debt securities tend to fare better during weak economic
times.
"Treasury investors, connecting the dots, are saying if
unemployment is coming back faster than people had expected
that ultimately is going to cause the Fed to tighten monetary
policy a little bit faster than they had expected," said David
Dietze, chief investment strategist at Point View Financial
Services, in Summit, New Jersey. "And rising interest rates are
not good for Treasuries."
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was
down 21/32 in price to yield 3.68 percent.
U.S. crude for April <CLc1> gained $1.29 to settle at
$81.50, the highest settlement since Jan. 11. Brent crude for
April <LCOc1> advanced $1.35 to settle at $79.89 a barrel.
Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose 5 cents, paring earlier gains,
to trade at $1,131.60 an ounce.
(Reporting by Edward Krudy, Chris Reese, Steven C. Johnson and
Barani Krishnan in New York; writing by Herbert Lash; Editing
by Leslie Adler)