? Markets continue to gain on strong U.S. labor market data

? S&P500 adds 2.7% during week, to just 1.1% off of 200 DMA

? Fed labor market mixed with strong Nonfarm & weak earnings reported

? Oil picks up on supply freeze estimates

? Gold surges to highest since Feb 15’

U.S. markets concluded yet another weekly session of gains, the third consecutive, aided by positive indications on the local labor market. The S&P 500 (SPY) increased in 4 out of the five daily sessions of the week, concluding a total of 2.7% gain. At a level of 1999.99, the S&P is now a mere 1.1% lower than its 200 day moving average, exhibiting an impressive recovery from January’s losses. In tandem with the improvement in equity, markets are also less edgy as the CBOE VIX index declined to a level of 16.86, similar to that of the beginning of the year.

As for the U.S. labor marker, Friday’s Nonfarm Payrolls print indicated of a very impressive 242K jobs added to the economy during the month of February, greatly surpassing expectations for a 195K gain. January’s figure, similarly, was revised from 151K to 172K. Not all job data was good, however. Primarily, Average Hourly Earnings decreased 0.1% compared to last month, marking the first monthly decline since December of 2014. This has further dragged the annual gain in Average Hourly Earnings down to 2.2%, from a previous 2.5%. U.S. Unemployment remained leveled at 4.9%.

It should be added that some of the positive momentum for equity was provided by the People’s Bank of China, announcing a 0.5% cut of its Reverse Repo Rate, on Monday. Boosted by this added liquidity, the Hang Seng increased no less than 4.2% during the week, ending at a level of 20,176.7. The week was also quite positive for European equity. The DAX, namely, as well as the CAC 40, added 3.3% during the week.

In the U.K., the FTSE 100 increased 1.7%. Waning concerns for a Brexit also aided the GBP recover nicely. GBP/USD increased by 2.6% during the week, after losing 3.7% last week. The GBP also strengthened by 1.9% vs. the Euro.