Stocks snap four-day skid on US jobs growth

BANGKOK (AP) – Better-than-expected growth in US jobs and a bounce back in commodity prices helped lift the local stock market and other Asian bourses yesterday.

The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 38.08 points or 0.9 percent to 4,257.15. The broader All Shares index went up 25.22 points (0.85 percent) to 2,984.43.

The US Labor Department reported Friday that private employers hired 268,000 people in April, the most since February 2006.

On Wall St., the better-than-expected job growth helped send shares higher Friday after a four-day slump.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 54.57 points to close at 12,638.74. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.10 to 1,340.20. The Nasdaq composite rose 12.84 to 2,827.56.

The higher jobs number helped stem a sell-off in commodities brought on by fears that the world’s biggest economy was sputtering. Regular investors and speculators had begun to flee commodities in an effort to lock in profits in case the economy slowed even further.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.9 percent to 23,373.22, with retail, raw materials and energy companies among the leaders. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.4 percent higher at 2,156.69, lifted by gains in industrial conglomerates.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4 percent to 4,762.70.

Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and New Zealand also rose, while Indonesia’s SE Composite Index dropped.

A rebound in oil and commodities following last week’s slide gave investors the confidence to wade back into shares, said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

“There were oversold sectors – sold off on concerns that overall, the markets would crash. But everything is stabilizing, so investors are buying,” Wong said.

Oil rose to near $99 a barrel, regaining some ground after last week’s record plunge. In currencies, the dollar weakened against the euro and the yen.

Benchmark crude for June delivery was up $1.62 at $98.80 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.