The Dow Jones industrial average climbed above the 12,400 mark after the government reported a second straight month of robust job gains in March.
A total of 216,000 non-farm US jobs were added in March, well above the 190,000 expected in a Reuters poll, and January and February figures were revised to show 7,000 more jobs than previously reported. The unemployment rate fell to a two-year low of 8.8 percent.
“We are growing, we are getting more profitable, we are going to see more jobs. That means consumers are going to do better. That is the better picture to look at,” said Marc Pado, US market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. in San Francisco.
The Dow was up 85.15 points, or 0.69 percent, at 12,404.88.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 10.14 points, or 0.76 percent, at 1,335.97.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 17.14 points, or 0.62 percent, at 2,798.31.
Global stocks, as measured by the MSCI All-Country World Index, rose 0.92 percent.
The dollar fell against the euro after New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley suggested that economic recovery was not looking as good as it did a month ago and that too much should not be made of the latest employment report.
Dudley, one of the central bank’s key policymakers, also signaled further support for quantitative easing,
Markets have been getting mixed signals from various Fed officials over the past two weeks on growth and whether the central bank is keen to keep the easy monetary policy it has maintained since the financial crisis or looking to raise interest rates soon.
Dudley said there was no reason to reverse course soon.
“I would be surprised if we didn’t finish the full QE2,” Dudley said, referring to the central bank’s $600 billion buying program, which some other Fed officials have indicated could be ended prematurely.
Another factor driving the dollar down versus the euro was the belief that the European Central Bank will be the first central bank to raise interest rates by doing just that at its policy meeting next Thursday.
The euro was around $1.4225 at mid-session in New York, up 0.23 percent for the day and well off the session low of $1.4059. A trader said stop-loss orders between $1.4040 and $1.4060, and the defense of an options barrier around $1.4060 had prompted buying as the euro approached those levels.
The dollar also dipped against a basket of major currencies, with the US Dollar Index off 0.05 percent at 75.819.
While many analysts viewed the US job figures as encouraging, some expressed concern that rising energy and commodity prices could squeeze investments in business expansion, threatening the employment outlook.
“One has to wonder whether we’ll see the pace of hiring slow as a result,” said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, New Jersey.
London Brent crude futures for May rose more than $1 to a contract peak above $118 a barrel. US crude jumped to a 2-1/2-year peak near $108.
US Treasuries erased early losses after the remarks by Dudley, who also said the nation was still “very far away” from achieving the dual mandate of maximum sustainable employment and price stability.
“One side of the Fed’s mandate, falling unemployment, is saying ‘exit.’ The other side of their mandate, low core inflation, is saying ‘not so fast,’” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo/Mitsubishi UFJ in New York.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was up 4/32 for the day, yielding 3.46 percent after being down 10/32 right after the employment report. US federal fund futures were slightly lower, with the January 2012 contract down 3 ticks at 99.645.
Safe-haven gold slipped as the jobs data increased investors’ risk appetite. Spot gold, which tracks trades in bullion, dropped 0.1 percent to trade above $1,428 an ounce, off its low at $1,412.55 earlier in the session. US gold futures for June delivery slid 0.7 percent to $1,430.
