World markets: US stocks hit three-month high

Stocks on Wall St surged to a three-month high after US jobs data rose more than expected in July.

Payrolls increased by a seasonally adjusted 163,000 jobs in July, topping economists' expectations for the addition of 95,000 positions. But the unemployment rate rose to 8.3% versus expectations for it to remain flat at 8.2%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 217.29 points, or 1.7%, to 13,096.17, its biggest increase since late June.

The S&P 500-stock index climbed 1.9%, to 1390.99, led higher by the financial and energy shares. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 2% to 2967.90.

Kraft Foods and Procter & Gamble were among the biggest risers among Dow components, after both reported better-than-expected earnings.

Other markets: Europe, Asia down
Banks led a European stock rally, rebounding from a selloff on Thursday in the wake of disappointment with the European Central Bank moves on buying Spanish and Italian government bonds.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 2.4% to 265.58, its highest closing level since early April. It closed higher for a ninth consecutive week, up 2.2%.

Italy's FTSE MIB jumped 6.3% to 14,124.89 and closed out the week 3.9% higher.

Spain's IBEX 35 rallied 6%, to 6755.70, reversing Thursday's rout, when stocks tumbled 5.2%. The IBEX gained 2.1% on the week.

The German DAX rose 3.9% to 6865.66, up 2.6% on the week and the French CAC-40 was 4.4% higher, to 3374.19. It was up 2.9% for the week.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 gained 2.2% to 5787.28 and 2.8% higher on the week.

Asian stock markets fell on the ECB's inaction. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average, Korea's Kospi and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index each lost 1.1%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.1% and Taiwan's Taiex shed 0.7%. The Shanghai Composite ended 1% higher.

Japan ended the week 0.1% lower but other markets were up for the week. Hong Kong rose 2% and Korea 1.1%. Australia rose 0.3% and China 0.2%.

Commodities: Oil up
Crude-oil futures vaulted almost 5% to close above $US91 a barrel. Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose $US4.27, or 4.9%, to settle at $US91.40 a barrel in New York.

Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe was up $US3.08, or 2.9%, to $US108.98 a barrel.

Currencies: Euro rises most in month
The euro rallied against the US dollar and yen. It was the euro's biggest one-day gain against the dollar in more than a month, marking a turnaround from Thursday's selloff.

The euro was at $US1.2385 from $US1.2181 late on Thursday, and at ¥97.20 from ¥95.28.

The dollar was at ¥78.48 from ¥78.23 and at 0.9705 Swiss franc from 0.9859 franc. The UK pound was at $US1.5636 from $US1.5512.