Global stocks rallied on Friday and closed near all-time highs, and oil and gold rose while the dollar dropped after U.S. jobs data was strong but not as robust as expected, easing investor worries that the Federal Reserve would soon rein in monetary stimulus.
U.S. employers increased hiring in May and raised wages. But the nonfarm payrolls increase of 559,000 jobs landed below the 650,000 forecast of economists polled by Reuters.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.39% after hitting a record high this week. MSCI’s all-country world index, which tracks shares in 50 countries across the globe, gained 0.71%.
A stronger-than-expected jobs report would have heightened worries that the Fed might contemplate paring back its bond-buying program and raising interest rates.
“This lower payrolls number should keep investor concerns about inflation muted – as long as the job market remains depressed, it’s hard to see wage inflation jumping higher,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Zaccarelli added that there may be some lingering concerns about overall price inflation as the Fed keeps rates lower for longer amid unprecedented fiscal stimulus.
Market whispers had been for a stronger number, analysts said. U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh in an interview with CNBC welcomed a “good, solid” jobs report and predicted more Americans would get back to work in coming months as more are vaccinated.
The FTSE MIB climbed up by 0.46% to 25,570.33. In the cash markets, the DAX futures Germany was trading up 0.39% to 15,692.17. CAC 40 futures in France rose by 0.12% to 6,515.60 while the FTSE 100 futures in the U.K. was up by 0.07% to 7,069.93 ,at the time of writing.
