* Global stocks fall; US jobs data shows recession's depth
* Dollar falls vs euro as job losses not as bad as feared
* Gold rises on safety bid, U.S. bonds fall on issuance
* Oil buoyed by weaker dollar, expectations of OPEC cut
(Recasts with U.S. markets, changes dateline; previous
LONDON)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, March 6 (Reuters) - Global stocks fell and
safe-haven assets like gold rose on Friday after data showed
the U.S. unemployment rate hit a 25-year high last month,
underscoring the severity of a worsening downturn.
The dollar fell against the euro after the U.S. Labor
Department report showed U.S. job losses from December through
February were at their highest since October 1949. For details,
see [][]
Oil rose above $44 a barrel, gaining support from a weaker
dollar and expectations the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries might cut output further at a meeting later this
month. []
Euro zone government bonds surged, extending the previous
session's strong rally, as stocks tumbled. But the prospect of
a substantial $63 billion of issuance in notes and bonds next
week led U.S. Treasuries to reverse early gains, analysts said.
[]
Gold futures rose above $940 an ounce as investors sought
safety in the yellow metal to preserve wealth. []
"Gold is considered in the first instance at the moment an
insurance premium and a safe haven," said Commerzbank analyst
Eugen Weinberg in Frankfurt. "It is the equity markets and risk
aversion that are moving the market."
World stocks struck a six-year low <.MIWO00000PUS> while
the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index plumbed 12-year lows as it
headed for its worst weekly decline since October.
An index of leading European companies set a lifetime low
for the 12-year-old gauge. The Nikkei <> lost 3.5 percent,
less than 200 points above a 26-year low hit last October.
Banking stocks again led markets lower, with the S&P
financial index <.GSPF> down 4.5 percent, while in Europe Banks
and insurers were the worst losers.
After 1 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average <> was
off 78.61 points, or 1.19 percent, at 6,515.83. The Standard &
Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> lost 10.74 points, or 1.57 percent, at
671.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> fell 23.56 points,
or 1.81 percent, at 1,276.03.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
closed down 1.3 percent at 662.13 points,
Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> fell 6.6 percent and BNP Paribas
<BNPP.PA> lost 5.4 percent.
"The news flow coming out of the U.S. is universally negative at the moment, and consensus GDP estimates will
continue to be revised down," said Darren Winder, an equity
strategist at Cazenove.
"Unless we have stability in profit estimates, it's
difficult to see a sustainable rally."
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> fell
4/32 in price to yield 2.83 percent. The 2-year U.S. Treasury
note <US2YT=RR> slipped 2/32 in price to yield 0.91 percent.
The dollar failed to get a boost from the U.S. payrolls
number because markets were expecting even worse data, and that
emboldened some investors to buy the euro and sell the dollar,
analysts said.
"It's a bearish number, but the rumor mill was whispering
of job losses up to 1 million and it didn't come close to our
worst fears," said Sebastien Galy, currency strategist at BNP
Paribas in New York.
The dollar fell against a basket of major currencies, with
the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> off 0.80 percent at 88.367.
Against the yen, the dollar <JPY=> fell 0.20 percent to 97.72.
The euro <EUR=> rose 0.92 percent to $1.2676.
U.S. light sweet crude oil <CLc1> rose 64 cents to $44.25 a
barrel.
Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose $7.85 to $939.70 an ounce.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was down 0.7 percent.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, John Parry, Steven C. Johnson
and George Matlock, Sitaraman Shankar and Jan Harvey in London;
writing by Herbert Lash; Editing by Dan Grebler)
