Weekend markets: Shares recover, oil falls

Stocks on Wall Street rose as a bigger-than-expected gain in monthly non-farm payrolls boosted sentiment.

Non-farm payrolls rose by 244,000 last month, as the private sector posted the strongest employment gain in five years. The increase topped expectations for a rise of 185,000 jobs.

The report was balanced by a rise in unemployment, which is measured separately. It rose to 9% last month from 8.8% in March, the first increase since November, when it hit 9.8%.
Economists had forecast it would remain unchanged.

Kraft Foods boosted blue chips with a 2.1% jump after first-quarter sales and profit topped analysts' estimates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 54.57 points, or 0.4%, to 12638.81 but fell 1.3% for the week.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% to 2827.56, a 1.6% drop over the week, while the S&P 500 index added 0.4% to 1340.20, shedding 1.7% for the week.

Other markets: Europe recovers, Asia falls
European markets snapped a three-session losing streak to end higher with strong gains in the banking sector. The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 1.3% at 281.33, paring losses for the week to 0.9%.

The German DAX 30 index rose 1.6% to 7492.25, London's FTSE 100 index closed up 1% at 5976.77 and the French CAC 40 index added 1.3% to 4058.01.

Asian stocks traded mostly lower Friday as commodity-related shares were battered by falling crude oil and metals prices.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.4% to 23,159.14, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.3% to 2863.89, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.2% to 4743.0 and Taiwan's Taiex shed 0.5% to 8977.23.

Japanese and Korean stocks lost heavily as those markets reopened after holidays. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.5% to 9859.20 and the Kospi lost 1.5% to 2147.45. India's Sensex rose 1.7% to 18,518.81 after a record nine-session losing streak.

Commodities: Oil stays below $US100, gold rises
Oil futures capped an aggressive week-long sell-off with a 2.6% decline. Light, sweet crude oil for June delivery in New York dropped $US2.62 to settle at $97.18 a barrel, matching the eight-week low of March 15.

The price fell $US16.75, or about 15%, for the week, the biggest weekly dollar decline since Thomson Reuters began tracking the data in April 1983.

Renewed concerns about inflationary pressures put the wind back in gold's sails.

The contract for May delivery gained $US10.30, or 0.7%, to settle at $US1,491.20 an ounce in New York but fell 4.2% for the week.

May silver fell 94.8USc, or 2.6%, to $US35.283 an ounce and fell 27% for the week.

Currencies: Euro plunges 5USc in two days
A report indicating Greece was considering bailing out of the euro zone pushed the euro to its second day of sharp declines.

The euro tumbled for a second day on an article by the German magazine der Spiegel that Greece was considering leaving the 17-nation currency bloc. Denials by German and Greek officials didn't stem the decline.

The euro lost more than 1% versus the US dollar on Friday, capping a dizzying two-day spiral that saw it fall from above $US1.49 on Thursday – its highest level since December 2009 – to below $US1.44.

The euro was at $US1.4353 from $US1.4526 late on Thursday. The dollar was at ¥80.57 from ¥80.13, while the euro was at ¥115.64 from ¥116.39.

The UK pound bought $US1.6398 from $US1.6376. The dollar was at 0.8770 Swiss franc from 0.8709 franc.