Reuters: US Dollar Report: GLOBAL MARKETS-Wall Street gains on U.S. data; oil slumps $3

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GLOBAL MARKETS-Wall Street gains on U.S. data; oil slumps $3 Oct 3rd 2012, 16:03 Wed Oct 3, 2012 12:03pm EDT * U.S. services sector, private jobs data top forecasts * Europe, China show signs of further slowing * Oil falls sharply on worries about economy, demand By Wanfeng Zhou NEW YORK, Oct 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher in volatile trade on Wednesday, helped by better-than-expected news on the U.S. economy, while oil prices slumped roughly 3 percent as signs of a slowdown in China stoked worries about demand for crude. The euro slipped against the dollar, weighed by uncertainty about when Spain will request the bailout seen as necessary to relieve the euro zone debt crisis. The U.S. currency also gained versus the yen after the U.S. data on the services sector and on jobs fueled optimism about the recovery. The pace of growth in the vast U.S. services sector, which dominates the country's economy, picked up in September, while private employers added more jobs last month than expected, according to separate industry reports on Wednesday. The data came ahead of the first of three presidential debates Wednesday night in Denver and the government's closely watched monthly payrolls report on Friday. Earlier, surveys showed the euro zone's economic woes worsened last month and China's slowdown looked likely to extend to a seventh quarter, suggesting recent bold actions by global central banks have yet to convince consumers to start spending again. "China is slowing down and we are as well, but we still have growth," said Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago. "The real question is does Europe drag China down and us with it." The Dow Jones industrial average gained 39.17 points, or 0.29 percent, to 13,521.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 5.74 points, or 0.40 percent, to 1,451.49. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 13.88 points, or 0.44 percent, to 3,133.92. Consumer discretionary was the strongest gaining sector, with the S&P consumer discretionary index rising 0.8 percent. Amazon rose more that 1 percent, and homebuilder PulteGroup rose over 4 percent. But lower oil and metals prices weighed on energy and materials shares. The S&P materials index and the energy sector index were both negative. The MSCI global stock index edged slightly lower to 333.37. The FTSEurofirst-300 index of pan-European shares slipped 0.1 percent to 1,100.62 points. Against the yen, the dollar rose as high 78.56 yen, its highest level since Sept. 19. It was last at 78.55 yen, up 0.5 percent on the day. The euro lost 0.1 percent to $1.2908. Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, on Tuesday quashed speculation the country could apply for a bailout as soon as this weekend, but expectations are high that Spain will eventually request aid. "We expect Spain to apply for aid and relatively soon, within the next one to three weeks," said Richard Falkenhall, currency strategist at SEB in Stockholm. "This will be a further relief for the euro, but it's still not solving the underlying problems of the euro zone." COPPER RETREATS Signs of a slowdown in China weighed on metals prices, with copper snapping four days of gains. China accounted for 40 percent of refined copper demand last year. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange traded at $8,260 a tonne, down 0.8 percent from Tuesday's close. The metal, which is used in power and construction, had gained more than 2 percent over the past four sessions. Oil prices fell sharply on concerns about the global economy and crude demand. Brent November crude futures lost $2.91 to $108.67 a barrel. U.S. November crude shed $3.01 to $88.88 a barrel€. Prices briefly pared losses after the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly oil inventory report showed crude stocks fell last week in the United States, against expectations for an inventory build. Spot gold was up slightly at $1,777.59. Prices hit $1,791.20 earlier this week, their highest since last November. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 5/32, with the yield at 1.6353 percent. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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