World stocks rise on Fed rate speculation
World stocks rose Monday after weak U.S. jobs data prompted expectations the Federal Reserve might postpone an interest rate hike.
In midday trading in Europe, France's CAC-40 index was up 3.2 percent to 4,599.34 and Germany's DAX advanced 2.1 percent to 9,749.10. Britain's FTSE 100 added 2.1 percent to 6,253.74.
Wall Street looked set for gains. Futures for the Dow gained 0.7 percent, and S&P 500 futures were up 0.8 percent.
The Labor Department reported employers added 142,000 workers last month, less than the 200,000 anticipated on Wall Street, and hired fewer people in July and August than previously thought. The unemployment rate stayed at 5.1 percent, but only because many Americans have stopped looking for work and are no longer counted as unemployed. The news was taken as a positive by investors who want the Fed to postpone a rate rise expected as early as October. Ultra-low interest rates in place since the 2008 global crisis have helped push up stock prices.
"The absolutely weak nonfarm payrolls data complicated the Fed's resolve to raise rates this year. Markets reacted to the soft reading by buying both stocks and bonds," said IG analyst Bernard Aw in a report. "The soft jobs numbers in the last two months certainly make October rate lift-off an even more unlikely endeavor for a data-dependent Fed. The labor market conditions which have been solid for much of this year seem a tad less solid now. The question is now whether the Fed thinks that these developments are indicative of a softening of the jobs market or just a temporary blip in the otherwise strong recent trend."
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.8 percent to 21,854.50 and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 1.6 percent to 18,005.49. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 2 percent to 5,150.50 and India's Sensex advanced 1.7 percent to 26,680.83. South Korea's Kospi added 0.4 percent to 1,978.25. Taiwan, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta also rose. Markets in mainland China are closed for holidays until Thursday.
Shares in Glencore, a global commodities mining and trading group, were hugely volatile. The company last week saw its shares drop about 30 percent on speculation it would struggle with high debts and low commodity selling prices. The shares bounced back last week and on Monday were volatile once again. They were up as much as 20 percent from Friday's closing price, before stabilizing with an 11 percent gain at 1.05 pounds in London. The company issued a statement saying it was not aware of any reasons for Monday's share movement.
Benchmark U.S. crude gained 54 cents to $46.08 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 80 cents on Friday to close at $45.54.
The dollar rose to 120.23 yen from Friday's 119.96 yen. The euro edged up to $1.1227 from $1.1210.