Stocks were mostly lower in Europe and the Asia Pacific as the new quarter began.
United States

Stocks climbed Friday after the March report indicated that employment continued to grow at a strong clip. Early in the day, stocks tumbled along with the prices of oil and precious metals but recovered in afternoon trading, and finished at their highest levels of the day. The Dow Jones industrials and S&P added 0.6 percent while the Nasdaq rallied 0.9 percent. For the week, The Dow was up 1.6 percent, the S&P gained 1.8 percent and the Nasdaq was 3.0 percent higher.
Employment was up by 215,000 jobs last month, a bit more than expected but consistent with hiring over the last few years. However, unemployment edged up to 5.0 percent from 4.9 percent thanks to a rise in the participation rate indicating that more people are joining the labor force.
Consumer companies including Procter & Gamble, Walgreens and Mondelez advanced. Energy prices dropped as investors became more pessimistic about the fate of a proposed deal by major oil-producing nations to reduce production. Marathon Oil and Diamond Offshore Drilling retreated. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals jumped after an eczema drug it is developing with Sanofi met its goals in a late-stage clinical trial. Biotechnology companies including Amgen and Gilead Sciences also traded higher. Tesla Motors gained after the electric car company said it received a flood of orders for Model 3, the new, lower-priced vehicle it announced on Thursday. However, other automakers fell even though most companies reported strong monthly sales. Both and General Motors declined. Delta, United Continental, American Airlines and Hawaiian declined on broker downgrades. Urban Outfitters advanced after it disclosed strong sales at its older stores.
In other economic news, the March ISM manufacturing index bounded up from a negative reading of 51.8 for the first time since October.
These data reflect observations at 4:00 PM US ET. Gold at the afternoon London fixing was down US$23.40 to US$1,213.60. Copper futures were down 0.9 percent to US$2.16. WTI spot crude was down US$1.55 to US$36.79. Dated Brent spot crude was down US$1.66 to US$38.67. The US dollar was up against the pound and the Canadian dollar. However, it declined against the yen, euro, Swiss franc and the Australian dollar. The Dollar Index was virtually unchanged. The yield on US Treasury 30 year bond was down 1 basis point to 2.60 percent while the yield on the 10 year note was unchanged at 1.77 percent.
 
Europe
Markets here retreated Friday following sharp declines in most of the Asian markets. Weakness in commodity prices also weighed on the markets at the end of the trading week. Energy and mining stocks were under pressure as crude oil and gold prices turned lower. European markets began to pare their losses after US markets staged a recovery. The turnaround was triggered by the release of the better than expected manufacturing sector news.
The FTSE was down 0.5 percent, the CAC declined 1.4 percent, the DAX dropped 1.7 percent and the SMI lost 1.5 percent. Stocks were mixed for the week with the FTSE up 0.6 percent but the CAC, DAX and SMI losing 0.2 percent, 0.6 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.
ThyssenKrupp jumped after the German business paper Rheinische Post reported that India’s Tata Steel was in talks to take a stake in ThyssenKrupp’s European steel unit. Volkswagen was lower after saying it would recall 3,877 diesel Vento models from India. BMW and Daimler also were down. Airbus Group tumbled after German newspaper Bild reported that engine problems will delay the deliveries of its A400M aircraft. Peugeot and Renault also were down. Technip and Total finished lower. J Sainsbury rose after the board of Home Retail formally recommended a takeover offer from the British supermarket group. Mining stocks were under pressure from falling commodity prices. Glencore, Anglo American, Antofagasta and Fresnillo tumbled. Novartis declined on a broker downgrade.
Eurozone manufacturing growth improved in March. The manufacturing PMI rose to 51.6 in March from 51.2 in February. UK’s manufacturing PMI edged up to 51.0 from 50.8 the month before.
Asia Pacific
Shares tumbled with the exception of Shanghai Composite as mixed regional data, sliding oil prices and Standard & Poor’s warning that it could downgrade China’s credit rating this year served to increase investor anxiety ahead of the US jobs report which would be released after markets here closed for the week.
With all eyes on the non-farm payroll report, markets paid little attention to the largely positive data out of China. The CFLP manufacturing PMI rose to 50.2 in March from 49 in February, pointing to expansion in Chinese factory activity for the first time in eight months. The Caixin manufacturing PMI rose to 49.7 from 48.0 in February, marking the slowest pace of contraction in 13 months. Other regional PMI reports painted a mixed picture, with Japan’s manufacturing activity deteriorating for the first time in eleven months in March, while Indonesia’s manufacturing activity expanded for the first time in seventeen months. Taiwan’s manufacturing activity expanded in March after contracting in the previous month.
The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.2 percent as stronger than expected manufacturing PMIs in added to confidence that Chinese growth has stabilized. The Hang Seng however tumbled 1.3 percent amid the regional sell-off. For the week, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.0 percent and the Hang Seng added 0.8 percent.
The Nikkei index plummeted 3.5 percent to a one month low, as the yen continued to strengthen and the Bank of Japan’s latest Tankan business sentiment survey showed conditions and the outlook among large manufacturers worsened. The index retreated 4.9 percent on the week. Exporters Canon, Honda Motor, Mazda Motor, Nissan Motor, Sharp and Sony retreated on the stronger yen. Electronics manufacturer Panasonic slumped after scrapping its target to achieve ¥10 trillion in sales in fiscal 2018. Daiichi Sankyo was down after the pharmaceutical firm announced a new medium-term business plan.
The S&P/ASX lost 1.6 percent and the All Ordinaries was down 1.5 percent as banks took another tumble on concerns about rising bad debt charges and a slowing housing market. The big four banks declined. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto advanced while oil stocks Woodside Petroleum, Santos, Oil Search and Origin Energy dropped. On the week, the S&P/ASX retreated 1.6 percent while the All Ordinaries declined 1.5 percent.
The Kospi declined 1.1 percent on the day and 0.5 percent on the week as foreign investors locked in profits in large-cap shares. The Sensex was down 0.3 percent for both the day and week.
Global Stock Markets

Please remember, the value of investments and the income from them can do down as well as up. Funds that invest in overseas markets may be subject to currency fluctuations. Investments in small and emerging markets can be more volatile than other overseas markets. Reference in this document to specific securities should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell these securities, but is included for the purposes of illustration only.
Looking forward*

Central Bank activities

April 5

Australia

Reserve Bank of Australia Monetary Policy Announcement

Reserve Bank of India Monetary Policy Announcement

April 6

United States

FOMC Minutes Published

The following indicators will be released this week…

Europe

April 4

Eurozone

Producer Price Index (February)

April 5

Eurozone

Services & Composite PMI (March)

Retail Sales (February)

Germany

Services & Composite PMI (March)

Manufacturers’ Orders (February)

France

Services & Composite PMI (March)

UK

Services PMI (March)

April 6

Germany

Industrial Production (February)

April 7

France

Merchandise Trade (February)

April 8

Germany

Merchandise Trade (February)

France

Industrial Production (February)

UK

Industrial Production (February)

Merchandise Trade (February)

Asia/Pacific

April 4

India

Manufacturing PMI (March)

April 5

Japan

Services & Composite PMI (March)

Americas

April 4

United States

Factory Orders (February)

April 5

Canada

International Trade (February)

United States

International Trade (February)

ISM Nonmanufacturing Index (March)

April 7

United States

Initial Unemployment Claims (week ending prior Saturday)

April 8

Canada

Labour Force Survey (March)

*Note — all releases are listed in local time.

Source: Fidelity

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