London: Global stock markets pushed higher on Friday despite a lacklustre US jobs report, as optimism grows thanks to stimulus moves and slowing coronavirus rates and vaccine rollouts.
Markets had been keenly awaiting the US jobs report for January to get an indication about whether the economic recovery is gaining or losing steam.
The report showed the US economy added only 49,000 jobs as the coronavirus pandemic continued to hamper business, far short of expectations of a gain of 105,000 expected by analysts.
Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at Axi, called the report a "double clunker" as the December figure was revised to a drop of 227,000 jobs from an initial estimate of 140,000.
However, he said it was "pretty much a look-through thanks to US stimulus and vaccine narrative(s)" keeping the attention of investors.
Naeem Aslam at AvaTrade said the jobs report was worrisome as it showed that the resilience that had been seen in many areas of the US economy is no longer there.
Patrick J. O´Hare at Briefing.com said: "The key takeaway from the report is that it will paint the case in Washington for more stimulus. The market knows that, but then again, it has already been banking on more stimulus coming."
Expectations that US President Joe Biden will be able to push through his $1.9-trillion stimulus package for the economy has been boosting market confidence for weeks.
Senate Democrats pushed through in the early hours of Friday a measure that will allow approval of a stimulus package by a simple majority vote.
Wall Street stocks added to records early Friday on expectations that a lackluster US jobs report bolstered the odds of passage of President Joe Biden´s economic relief package.
The Labor Department said the US economy added only 49,000 jobs in January and downgraded the number of new jobs created in November and December.
Analysts said the disappointing figures boosted the prospects Congress will approve Biden´s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which advanced on a party-line vote in the Senate early Friday but still faces several hurdles before being enacted.
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 percent at 31,210.24.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.4 percent to 3,888.95, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.3 percent to 13,817.68.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at records Thursday, rallying on diminished market volatility and improving coronavirus trends in the US.
Among individual companies, Johnson & Johnson rose 1.4 percent as it submitted an application for emergency authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine with US health authorities.
The process could take several weeks, but if approved, the vaccine would be the third authorized in the United States, after those of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
In Europe, both Frankfurt and Paris were higher in afternoon trading.
However, London gave up its gains after the US jobs report was announced as the pound rose against the dollar which tends to hurt the share prices of multinationals listed on the FTSE 100 that earn most of their revenue in dollars.
Hong Kong stocks finished a strong week on a positive note Friday, extending a global rally fuelled by hopes over US stimulus talks, vaccine rollouts and easing virus infections. The Hang Seng Index gained 0.60 percent, or 175.18 points, to 29,288.68.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.44 percent, or 15.45 points, to 3,501.86, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China´s second exchange lost 1.16 percent, or 27.52 points, to 2,353.27.
Tokyo stocks also closed higher , extending rallies on Wall Street as investors await US job data to be released later in the day.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index grew 1.54 percent or 437.24 points to end at 28,779.19, while the broader Topix index rose 1.38 percent or 25.83 points to 1,890.95.
The US market was boosted by hopes surrounding President Joe Biden´s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finishing at all-time highs.
"Tokyo shares rose following gains by all three major US indexes," Okasan Online Securities said.
"Investors are waiting for US jobs data," it added, saying they were also cautious in afternoon trade after the Nikkei hit the 28,750 level.
In Tokyo trading, Mazda skyrocketed 18.51 percent to 960 yen after its third-quarter operating profit exceeded market expectations.
SoftBank Group rose 3.47 percent to 9,081 yen while Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing climbed 1.30 percent to 92,210 yen.
Sony jumped 6.86 percent to 12,450 yen.
The dollar fetched 105.54 yen in Asian trade, against 105.52 yen in New York late Thursday.
Japan´s household spending in December was down 0.6 percent, against market expectations of a drop of 1.8 percent, according to government data released before the opening bell.
Meanwhile, oil prices continued to climb on rising demand expectations as people return to more normal lives.
Brent North Sea reached $59.75 per barrel to stand almost at pre-pandemic levels.
While virus infections and deaths remain high, investors are hopeful that a slowdown in rates, combined with vaccines will soon allow governments to begin easing containment measures.
On the corporate front Friday, Chinese short-video app company Kuaishou -- a major rival to TikTok -- nearly tripled on its market debut following a $5.4-billion initial public offering that was the biggest for an internet firm since Uber´s May 2019 listing.
