Stocks rally, dollar gains on robust US jobs data

European shares inched higher on Friday as comments from US President Donald Trump that trade talks with China were “moving right along” helped inject some calm into the markets after a rocky week.

Despite Friday’s gains, the STOXX 600 was on track to post its biggest weekly decline in two months after conflicting headlines on trade and weak euro zone economic indicators made for a volatile trading session.

Fresh numbers showed Germany’s industrial output unexpectedly dropped in October, reviving worries about its economic growth outlook. Frankfurt-listed shares rose 0.2%.

The dollar rose and global equity markets soared on Friday after data showed US job growth increased by the most in 10 months in November, putting to rest recession fears and briefly taking the spotlight off contentious US-China trade talks.

The stronger-than-expected Labor Department data showed steady wage gains remained near their strongest in a decade, suggesting consumers will continue to drive the longest economic expansion in US history, now in its 11th year. The improving data would appear to validate the Federal Reserve’s decision in October to signal, after three interest rate cuts this year, that no more are needed for now.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.84%. European equities rallied, with the pan-regional STOXX 600 index rising 1.16%. Most major regional indices closed more than 1% higher.

China said on Friday it would waive import tariffs for some soybeans and pork shipments from the United States. The gesture aimed at concluding a “phase one” or interim deal to de-escalate the 17-month trade war that has roiled financial markets, disrupted supply chains and weighed on global economic growth.

China stocks posted their biggest weekly advance in nearly two months, with blue chips up 0.6%.

Oil prices rose sharply after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies agreed to extend output cuts by 500,000 barrels per day in early 2020.