GLOBAL MARKETS-Wall Street stumbles on jobs data, global equity markets flat

(Recasts with U.S. markets open; changes byline, dateline;
previous LONDON)
By Suzanne Barlyn
NEW YORK, March 5 (Reuters) - A gauge of global equity
markets was little changed on Friday and Wall Street gave back
some of its early gains as investors took stock of a report that
at first blush showed faster-than-expected U.S. jobs growth but
was also a reminder that the recovery will still take time.
It has been a frantic Friday for traders across the globe as
Asian markets dropped overnight and MSCI's all-country index was
on its longest losing streak in six months.
"The economy is still going through the transition from the
virus to the vaccine, and it is a bit rougher than you would
like," said Steven Ricchiuto, U.S. chief economist at Mizuho
Securities USA in New York.
"It tells the Federal Reserve in particular that you have to
remain with your foot on the accelerator, but that not
necessarily you have to put more pressure on that accelerator,"
Ricchiuto said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 75.2 points, or
0.24%, to 30,999.34, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.26 points, or
0.06%, to 3,766.21 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
129.44 points, or 1.02%, to 12,594.03.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost 0.40% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
0.60%.
Emerging market stocks lost 0.96%. MSCI's broadest index of
Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 1.19%
lower, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 lost 0.23%.
The U.S. economy created more jobs than expected in February
as falling new COVID-19 cases and additional pandemic relief
money from the government boosted hiring at restaurants, putting
the labor market recovery back on firmer footing. Still, it will
probably take several years for the labor market to heal from
the deep scars inflicted by the pandemic, which is now in its
second year. The market reaction continues a bout of volatility sparked
on Thursday when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell showed
little alarm about a rise in bond yields.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR last fell
8/32 in price to yield 1.5766%, from 1.55% late on Thursday.


Oil prices jumped after the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries and its allies agreed to mostly maintain
their supply cuts in April as they await a more solid recovery
in demand from the COVID-19 pandemic. O/R
U.S. crude CLc1 recently rose 2.87% to $65.66 per barrel
and Brent LCOc1 was at $68.82, up 3.12% on the day.
"OPEC+ has kept output steady, indicating that it wants to
take a cautious approach in normalizing production," said
Ravindra Rao, vice president commodities at Kotak Securities.
Rising Treasury yields also bolstered demand for the dollar.
The dollar index =USD jumped to a three-month high of 91.935.
The dollar index =USD last rose 0.371%, with the euro
EUR= down 0.44% to $1.1913. The Japanese yen weakened 0.22%
versus the greenback, last at 108.18 per dollar, its lowest
since June, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.3824,
down 0.50%.
The dollar's strength also hit gold prices, which sank to a
nine-month low as investors sold the precious metal to reduce
the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset. GOL/
Spot gold XAU= dropped 0.1% to $1,696.31 an ounce. U.S.
gold futures GCc1 fell 0.49% to $1,691.90 an ounce. Earlier,
spot gold was at $1,697 per ounce, trading below $1,700 for the
first time since June 2020.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
U.S. yields, inflation expectations and world stocks https://tmsnrt.rs/3biCx9l
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>