By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Reuters) - World stock markets advanced for a seventh straight session and the dollar strengthened on Friday, buoyed by a round of U.S. economic data highlighted by the monthly payrolls report.
Wall Street also received a boost from a 2.61 percent gain in shares of Apple Inc
U.S. job growth accelerated in October after hurricane-related disruptions in the prior month, but a sharp slowdown in annual wage gains and surge in the number of people dropping out of the work force cast a cloud over the labour market.
"If there's one thing I would focus on is the fact you're really not seeing the wage inflation. I don't necessarily think this is enough to change the calculus for the Fed in December, but people will clearly be watching next month's report," said Heidi Learner, chief economist at Savills Studley, Savills Plc, New York.
"The wage numbers are becoming increasingly more important than the monthly payrolls number itself."
Traders see a 90.2 percent chance of a rate hike at the central bank's next meeting, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Apple gave the biggest boost to each of the major Wall Street indexes after its stronger-than-expected results on Thursday offered a rosy forecast for the holiday shopping season.
Long, snaking lines formed outside the company's stores in Asia and Europe on Friday as fans flocked to buy the new iPhone X, and the U.S. company, the largest by market capitalisation, moved closer to a $1 trillion valuation.
With 406 of S&P 500 companies having reported earnings, 72.4 percent have topped Wall Street expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, in line with the 72 percent average over the past four quarters. The current growth estimate for the quarter stands at 8 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 22.96 points, or 0.1 percent, to 23,539.22, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 7.99 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,587.84 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 49.49 points, or 0.74 percent, to 6,764.44.
For the week, the Dow rose 0.45 percent, the S&P gained 0.26 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 0.94 percent. The Dow and S&P have risen for eight straight weeks and the Nasdaq has climbed six weeks in a row.
European shares closed higher on firmer tech stocks and carmakers, though gains were limited as earnings weighed on shares of French bank Societe Generale
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> rose 0.27 percent and was up 0.7 percent for the week. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe <.MIWD00000PUS> gained 0.08 percent.
The dollar was set for its best week of the year after data on U.S. manufacturing and services reversed the currency's drop following the payrolls report.
Factory goods orders increased 1.4 percent as demand for a 7range of goods rose, the Commerce Department said. Orders increased by an unrevised 1.2 percent in August.
The dollar index <.DXY> rose 0.27 percent, with the euro > down 0.43 percent to $1.1606.
Benchmark 10-year notes > last rose 4/32 in price to yield 2.3343 percent, from 2.349 percent late Thursday.
(Additional reporting by Herb Lash; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
