Reuters: US Dollar Report: GLOBAL MARKETS-Jobless rate fall lifts shares; bonds fall

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GLOBAL MARKETS-Jobless rate fall lifts shares; bonds fall Oct 5th 2012, 18:27 Fri Oct 5, 2012 2:27pm EDT * U.S. jobless rate falls to 7.8 percent, an almost four-year low * Global shares gain; Dow Industrials at nearly 5-year high * Dollar hits two-week high vs yen; bond prices tumble By Wanfeng Zhou NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average climbed to its highest in nearly five years on Friday, while Treasury prices tumbled after the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to a near four-year low. The dollar advanced to a two-week high versus the yen and the euro gained as investors sold the U.S. and Japanese currencies, which are often perceived as safe havens. The United States added 114,000 jobs last month, driving the jobless rate down to 7.8 percent, its lowest since January 2009, the Labor Department reported. Payroll gains for both July and August were revised higher. "The details were about as good as they realistically could be under the circumstances," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at BNY Mellon in New York. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 37.17 points, or 0.27 percent, to 13,612.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1.55 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,462.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 3.94 points, or 0.12 percent, to 3,145.52. The S&P 500 rose for a fifth day. But the indexes were off their highs of the day in afternoon trading, suggesting the market may struggle to make further progress with third-quarter earnings season starting next week. The MSCI global stock index rose 0.4 percent to 336.90. Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 index rallied 1 percent to 1,111.65. European markets had risen earlier after reassurance from the European Central Bank on Thursday that it stood ready to buy Spain's bonds if it requested aid. The ECB also said Europe had a "fully effective backstop mechanism in place" to protect the euro. The ECB envisions buying large volumes of sovereign debt for periods of one to two months once its bond-buying program is triggered, senior central bank sources told Reuters. The dollar rose to 78.87 yen, the highest since Sept. 19, before pulling back to 78.66 yen, up 0.3 percent on the day . The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.3031. Safe-haven government bond prices fell. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 16/32, with the yield at 1.7271 percent. "Treasuries sank after the jobs report," said Cary Leahey, economist and senior advisor to Decision Economics in New York. "Though September job growth was close to expectations, several facets of the report, particularly the large drop in the unemployment rate to 7.8 percent, suggested that the Fed was closer to the exit window," he said, referring to the Federal Reserve's program of unconventional monetary easing. Brent futures lost 69 cents to $111.90 a barrel. U.S. crude futures eased $1.89 to $89.82 per barrel, after climbing nearly 4 percent in the prior session. Gold touched its highest level since last November, taking a cue from euro strength. Spot gold rose above $1,795 an ounce earlier and last traded at $1,777. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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