Stock Market

The dollar soared against the yen on Friday after a government report showed US employers cut fewer jobs than expected last month, boosting hopes a US economic recovery was still on track. The renewed optimism also encouraged investors to buy stocks and higher-yielding currencies, such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

The dollar is expected to rise next week in the afterglow of a better-than-expected US employment report and as the euro struggles on ongoing concern about Greek fiscal problems. US employers cut a smaller-than-forecast 36,000 jobs in February, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 9.7 percent, according to a government report on Friday that said it was unclear how severe weather had impacted payrolls.

Currency speculators cut by more than half their long bets on the US dollar in the latest week, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday. The value of the dollar's net long position fell to $5.58 billion in the week ended March 2, down from $12.77 billion in the prior week.

China flagged on Saturday it will let the yuan resume its rise at some point as it unwinds the super-loose policies it has been pursuing to prop up the world's third-largest economy. China is under intense pressure from the United States and Europe to abandon the exchange rate peg it instituted of around 6.83 yuan per dollar since mid-2008 to preserve the competitiveness of its exporters during the international financial crisis.

The Kenyan and Tanzanian shillings are expected to trade in narrow ranges against the dollar in the week to Wednesday while the Ugandan shilling is likely to slip, traders said.

The Canadian dollar regained its upward track against the US dollar on Friday after US data showed employers cut fewer jobs than expected in February, offering more evidence of economic recovery and building market confidence in moving away from the safe-haven greenback.

Leaders of a world group on sustainable banking said on Saturday they had committed to building a different and positive financial future for the banking industry across the globe. "Fighting poverty will remain the first priority for the banking sector in the foreseeable future," Fazle Hasan Abed, co-founder of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV), told reporters.

US bank regulators closed Bank of Illinois bank of Normal, Illinois and Waterfield Bank of Germantown, Maryland on Friday as deteriorating loans continued taking a toll on financial institutions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) said Bank of Illinois had $211.7 million in assets and $198.5 million in deposits.

US Treasury investors will turn their focus on $74 billion in note supply and data on retail spending next week in the wake of a less gloomy report on the labour market. Data portending a return to job growth soon could curb appetite for longer-dated Treasuries, while February figures on retail sales could either reinforce or undermine the optimism stoked by the payroll report, analysts said on Friday.

US Treasuries fell sharply on Friday in their worst sell-off in nearly a month, after better-than-expected jobs data fuelled economic recovery hopes and worries over Federal Reserve rate hikes. Bonds hit the skids after the government said US employers shed 36,000 jobs in February, far fewer than the 50,000 analysts expected.

US stocks jumped and the Nasdaq hit an 18-month closing high on Friday as US employers cut fewer jobs than expected last month and consumers showed signs of shedding their penny-pinching ways. Apple Inc surged to an all-time high after the company said its much hyped iPad computer would arrive in US stores in April, easing concerns about delays.

Brazilian stocks jumped and the currency rose for the first time in three days on Friday after better-than-forecast US jobs data and expectations Greece can contain its debt crisis stoked investor optimism. February's non-farm employment numbers in the world's largest economy showed a cut of 36,000 jobs for February against expectations in a Reuters survey for a loss of 50,000. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.7 percent.

Turkish stocks staged a late rally on Friday as investors took better-than-expected US jobs data as a good sign for global equities, while bond yields hovered close to a 2010 high on fears of domestic inflation. The Istanbul share index jumped 2.3 percent, closing at 52,625.63 points after trading flat most of the day. It outperformed the MSCI index of emerging market stocks.

Toronto's main stock index shot to its highest level in more than seven weeks on Friday after data showed the US economy shed fewer jobs than expected in February, offering more evidence of economic recovery. US employers cut 36,000 jobs, the Labour Department said, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 9.7 percent.

Investors bought Latin American stocks, bonds and currencies on Friday, encouraged to put more cash at risk after better-than-expected US jobs data and growing confidence in Europe Greece's debt problems can be contained.

South Korean government bond prices ended mixed on Friday on increased selling in the afternoon on perceptions a recent rally driven by abundant cash liquidity may have been overdone. The yield on benchmark 5-year treasury bonds ended unchanged at 4.56 percent, wiping out an early 6-point drop, while the liquid 3-year treasury yield ended 2 basis points higher at 4.10 percent.

Canadian bonds fell across the curve on Friday, mimicking moves in US Treasuries, after the US jobs data firmed expectations of recovery. Guatieri said it was clear that the US labour market was healing and he expects Canadian jobs figures for February, due next Friday, would show a similar trend. That would put the Bank of Canada on track to raise interest rates in the second half of the year.

US corporate bond yield spreads tightened on Friday, in step with rising stocks and falling US Treasury debt prices after data showed US employers cut fewer jobs than expected last month. February's nonfarm employment numbers showed a loss of 36,000 jobs in February, less than the 50,000 projected by analysts polled by Reuters and bolstering views the economy was on the brink of creating jobs.

Argentine sovereign debt prices rose on Friday on growing expectations that the government will launch soon a planned swap of about $20 billion in defaulted bonds, traders said. Government bonds traded over the counter in Buenos Aires were up 0.9 percent on average in midday trade, led by the dollar-denominated Boden 14 paper, which was trading 1.9 percent higher to an ask price of 29.15.