* US Feb payrolls rise, jobless rate lowest since April 09
* U.S. stocks, world stocks fall
* US dollar fails to benefit from jobs data
(Updates prices, adds oil, details)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, March 4 (Reuters) - World stocks and the U.S.
dollar declined on Friday as upbeat U.S. jobs data was offset
by higher oil prices.
The MSCI all-country world stock index <.MIWD00000PUS> was
down 0.1 percent mid-morning Friday, reversing earlier gains.
The U.S. dollar fell as low as 82.25 yen on EBS <JPY=EBS>
before recovering slightly to 82.30 yen, still down 0.2 percent
on the day.The dollar also slipped against the euro.
Crude oil resumed its upward trend after pulling back
Thursday on hopes for a resolution of the civil war in oil
exporter Libya.
U.S. employers hired more workers in February than in any
month since May last year and the unemployment rate fell to a
near two-year low, the strongest sign yet the recovery has
become self-sustaining.
But the jobs data was close to expectations and had already
been discounted by markets after reports earlier this week
showed robust private-sector hiring and an unexpectedly sharp
decline in jobless claims. Analysts also said February's
payrolls data was exaggerated by the hit to January figures
from bad weather.
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U.S. payrolls jump, jobless rate near 2-year low
[]
INSTANTVIEW: []
SNAP ANALYSIS: U.S. jobs data showing some consistency
[]
Reuters Insider-Strong Payrolls Data Puts Focus on Fed's QE
http://link.reuters.com/mub48r
Graphic- US payrolls:
http://r.reuters.com/rud48r
Graphic- US unemployment:
http://r.reuters.com/kud48r
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The U.S. benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 stock index <.SPX>
dropped 0.7 percent. Stocks had risen sharply on Thursday as
new U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to
their lowest level in more than 2-1/2 years
"My suspicion is the activity you saw yesterday was to make
up for the money flow that usually comes in on the first of the
month that waited in anticipation of a much stronger whisper
number out there. So the market as we get into the day may be a
little bit disappointed," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief
investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in
Charlotte, Vermont.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was down 73.37
points, or 0.60 percent, at 12,184.83. The S&P was down 9.35
points, or 0.70 percent, at 1,321.62. The Nasdaq Composite
Index <> was down 16.14 points, or 0.58 percent, at
2,782.60.
In the European stock market, the FTSEurofirst 300 <>
was down 0.6 percent.
After pulling back on Thursday, oil prices resumed their
recent upward trend. Brent crude futures for April delivery
were up 87 cents to $115.66 a barrel.
Investors are worried about supply disruption
followingviolence in oil producer Libya as tensions spreading
in the Middle East and North Africa.
(Additional reporting by Charles Mikolajczak in New York and
Jeremy Gaunt and Claire Milhench in London)
