Global Stocks Up on US Job Gains       08/08 05:16

   Global stocks gained Monday after strong U.S. jobs data cleared the way for 
more interest rate hikes and Chinese exports rose by double digits.

   BEIJING (AP) -- Global stocks gained Monday after strong U.S. jobs data 
cleared the way for more interest rate hikes and Chinese exports rose by double 
digits.

   London, Shanghai, Tokyo and Frankfurt advanced. Hong Kong retreated. Oil 
prices edged higher.

   Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 lost 0.2% on Friday after government data 
showed American employers added more jobs than expected in June. That undercut 
expectations a slowing economy might prompt the Fed to postpone or scale back 
plans for more rate hikes to cool inflation.

   "Now it seems they will be debating whether they need to be even more 
aggressive," Edward Moya of Oanda said in a report.

   In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London was up 0.4% at 7,471.08 and the DAX 
in Frankfurt added 0.4% to 13,629.44. The CAC 40 in Paris advanced 0.6% to 
6,512.74.

   On Wall Street, the future for the S&P 500 rose 0.3% while that for the Dow 
Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2%.

   The S&P declined 0.2% on Friday after government data showed employers hired 
more Americans in July than forecast. The Dow added 0.2% while the Nasdaq 
composite lost 0.5%.

   In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3% to 3,236.93 after China's 
July exports rose 18% over a year earlier, beating forecasts.

   China's trade surplus swelled to $101 billion in July after imports rose 
just 2.3% over a year ago, reflecting weak domestic demand.

   The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.8% to 20,050.15 while the Nikkei 225 in 
Tokyo gained 0.2% to 26.241.13.

   The Kospi in Seoul gained less than 0.1% to 2,493.10 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 
200 shed less than 0.1% to 7,020.60.

   India's Sensex gained 0.9% at 58,892.25. Taiwan, New Zealand, Singapore and 
Bangkok retreated while Jakarta gained.

   Investors worry tighter policy from the Fed and central banks in Europe and 
Asia to cool inflation that is running at multi-decade highs might derail 
global economic growth.

   Markets also have been rattled by Russia's war on Ukraine, which caused a 
spike in prices of oil, wheat and other commodities, and by uncertainty about 
Chinese anti-virus curbs that have disrupted manufacturing and shipping.

   Last week's strong U.S. employment data gave ammunition to Fed officials who 
say the economy can tolerate higher borrowing costs to cool inflation. After 
Friday's announcement, traders expect the Fed to raise its benchmark rate by 
0.75 percentage points next month, up from forecasts of half a point. That 
would be triple the usual margin and the third such outsized hike this year.

   Higher interest rates are meant to counter inflation by cooling business 
activity, but that also raises the risk of recession and job losses. The latest 
inflationary spike is unusual because forecasters have blamed shortages of 
goods due to the coronavirus pandemic, rather than rapid economic growth.

   Wall Street is coming off its best month for stocks since late 2020, a rally 
driven by falling bond yields. Traders hoped the economy was slowing enough for 
the Fed to ease off.

   In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude fell 56 cents to $88.45 per barrel 
in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 47 
cents to $89.01 on Friday. Brent crude, the price basis for international 
trading, shed 61 cents to $94.31 per barrel in London. It gained 80 cents to 
$94.92 the previous session.

   The dollar rose to 135.18 yen from Friday's 135.11 yen. The euro advanced to 
$1.0187 from $1.0178.