Reuters: US Dollar Report: REFILE-GLOBAL MARKETS-Jobless rate fall buoys stocks; Treasuries tumble

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REFILE-GLOBAL MARKETS-Jobless rate fall buoys stocks; Treasuries tumble Oct 5th 2012, 14:12 Fri Oct 5, 2012 10:12am EDT * U.S. jobless rate falls to 7.8 percent, nearly a four-year low * European shares extend gains, Wall Street opens higher * Dollar jumps to two-week high vs yen; bond prices tumble By Wanfeng Zhou NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Friday with the S&P 500 index set to hit its highest since 2007 while Treasury prices tumbled after data showed a surprise drop in the U.S. unemployment rate 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 U.S. economy added 114,000 jobs last month, driving the jobless rate to 7.8 percent, the lowest since January 2009, Labor Department data showed. Payrolls for previous months 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 60.48 points, or 0.45 percent, to 13,635.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 7.53 points, or 0.52 percent, to 1,468.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 15.20 points, or 0.48 percent, to 3,164.66. The MSCI global stock index edged up 0.7 percent to 337.84. Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 index rallied 1 percent to 1,111.25. European markets earlier had already been in a positive mood following reassurance from the European Central Bank on Thursday that it stood ready to buy Spain's bonds if it requested aid, and that Europe now had a "fully effective backstop mechanism in place" to protect the euro. The European Central Bank 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. Safe-haven government bond prices fell. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 15/32, with the yield at 1.7236 percent. The dollar rose to 78.87 yen, before pulling back to 78.66 yen, up 0.2 percent on the day. The euro rose 0.3 percent to $1.3048. Brent futures were down by 95 cents at $111.63 a barrel, having fallen by over $1 to $111.48 earlier. U.S. crude futures eased $1.64 to $90.07 per barrel, after climbing nearly 4 percent in the prior session. Gold touched its highest since last November, taking a cue from euro strength. Spot gold rose above $1,795 an ounce earlier and last traded at $1,783. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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