GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks hit weekly highs as markets shrug off dismal U.S. jobs data

(Updates with U.S. market open)
* U.S. jobs data worst in a generation, but better than
expectations
* U.S.-China co-operation boosts sentiment
* London stock exchange closed for bank holiday

By Imani Moise
NEW YORK, May 8 (Reuters) - Global share markets rallied on
Friday, hitting weekly highs, and oil prices gained as more
governments around the world began gradually reopening their
economies and Sino-American trade tensions eased.
The optimism contrasts with the economic data. U.S.
unemployment numbers showed the coronavirus pandemic cost the
economy 20.5 million jobs in April, the steepest plunge in
payrolls since the Great Depression.
The dollar extended gains against the yen and turned higher
versus the euro on Friday after the U.S. jobs data came in
better than expected.
"It's a historic, tragic day for the U.S. economy but we're
still seeing markets be near their session highs because
expectations are that this is going to be short-lived," said Ed
Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.74% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
1.44%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 341.94 points,
or 1.43%, to 24,217.83, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 35.31 points,
or 1.23%, to 2,916.5 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
107.21 points, or 1.19%, to 9,086.87.
Still, some market watchers worried that the long-term
impact will be worse than feared. By the raw numbers, the
coronavirus crisis has left more Americans unemployed in one
month than during the entire Great Depression, noted Jeremy
Stretch, head of G10 FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets.
"It is important not to underplay the scale of this shock to
the U.S. economy... especially since services makes up such a
proportion of the U.S. economy," said Michael Hewson, chief
market analyst at CMC Markets.
Top U.S. and Chinese trade representatives discussed their
Phase 1 trade deal on Friday, with China saying they agreed to
improve the atmosphere for its implementation and the United
States saying both sides expected obligations to be met.
That calmed investors' fears about renewed trade tensions
after U.S. President Donald Trump and other top officials blamed
China for the spread of the coronavirus and threatened punitive
action, including possible tariffs and shifting supply chains
away from China. "The threat of a breakdown in negotiations for now at least
has been averted," said CIBC's Stretch.
Oil prices climbed as some countries moved ahead with plans
to relax economic and social lockdowns imposed to halt the
coronavirus pandemic, kindling market hopes for a boost in
demand for crude and its products. U.S. crude CLc1 recently rose 3.01% to $24.26 per barrel
and Brent LCOc1 was at $29.92, up 1.56% on the day.
Both contracts showed some easing from the morning's gains,
but they were still heading for a second week of gains after the
lows of April.
The dollar index =USD fell 0.238%, with the euro EUR= up
0.25% to $1.0859.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.15% versus the greenback at
106.45 per dollar.
Spot gold XAU= was steady at $1,717.52 per ounce by 1202
GMT after hitting its highest since April 27 at $1,722.56.
Bullion has risen more than 1% so far this week.


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