By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stock indexes climbed on Monday as strong U.S. jobs data reassured investors the U.S. economy was still strengthening, while the dollar pulled back after hitting a three-year high.
Oil prices declined after rising sharply on unrest in Egypt, which stoked concerns about global supplies.
The upbeat U.S. jobs data from Friday also fueled some concern the Federal Reserve could soon start reducing its $85 billion a month stimulus, but stock investors seemed to focus more on what it said about the economy.
"For the moment, the better-than-expected jobs report is outweighing the fear that the asset purchases could come to an end," said Paul Brigandi, senior vice president of trading at Direxion Funds in New York.
MSCI's global share index was up nearly 0.5 percent. Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 stock index rose 1.4 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 96.46 points, or 0.64 percent, at 15,232.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 8.78 points, or 0.54 percent, at 1,640.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index up 2.38 points, or 0.07 percent, at 3,481.76
The dollar index was down 0.3 percent at 84.193, having hit 84.588 earlier, its strongest since July 2010.
Analysts said the greenback should resume its uptrend as the Fed looks poised to power down its massive stimulus program.
In contrast, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England were more likely to ease monetary policy, while the Bank of Japan was expected to continue with aggressive stimulus, keeping the euro, sterling and yen weak.
Investor focus was also on Brussels, where Greece was expected to reach a deal on its latest aid payment at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers, and there was relief after weekend moves to calm Portugal's political crisis.
BOND PRICES RISE
U.S. Treasuries prices climbed on buying by bargain-minded investors, helping to bring benchmark yields down from near two-year highs.
A Reuters poll conducted after the release of Friday's government payrolls data -- which showed U.S. employers added 195,000 jobs in June -- found more than half of the major Wall Street bond firms surveyed expected the Fed would reduce its $85 billion monthly purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in September.
The 10-year Treasury note last traded 24/32 higher in price to yield 2.645 percent.
"Today we are trying to find a range before this week's supply. Some people are thinking maybe Friday was overdone," said Thomas Roth, executive director of U.S. government bond trading at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities USA in New York.
The divergence between the United States and other major economies is clear in bond markets, with 10-year Treasury yields spiking 23 basis points on Friday to around 2.75 percent, highs last seen in August 2011. The spread between Treasury and bund yields gapped to the widest since 2006.
The U.S. Treasury Department will sell $32 billion of three-year notes on Tuesday; $21 billion of 10-year notes on Wednesday and $13 billion of 30-year bonds on Thursday.
Brent crude, the European benchmark, fell 29 cents to $107.43 a barrel, after hitting $108.04, the highest since April 4, while U.S. light crude was down 8 cents at $103.14.
"The market is a bit less concerned about a major disruption in Egypt, and was probably overbought a little bit going into the holiday weekend," said Phil Flynn, energy analyst at Price Futures Group.
Gold rose as the rally in the dollar paused and as investors found value following a two-day slide. Spot gold rose to a session high of $1,238.30 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London, Julie Haviv, Leah Schnurr, Anna Louie Sussman and Richard Leong in New York.; Editing by Ruth Pitchford, Ron Askew and Dan Grebler)
