Stocks ended higher for a third straight week, as did oil, as a number of U.S. economic data points, including monthly job additions, were better than expected. This week’s advance pushed the Dow back above 17,000 and the S&P 500 back to within a hair of 2,000.

MACRO NEWS: In the U.S., nonfarm payrolls grew by 242,000 jobs last month, versus expectations for 195,000 job additions. The unemployment rate remained at 4.9%, as forecast. Average hourly earnings declined 0.1% in February compared to the prior month, versus expectations for them to be up 0.2%. The trade balance report for January showed a deficit of $45.7B, versus expectations for a $44B deficit. Markit’s manufacturing PMI came in at 51.3 in the final February print, improved slightly versus the 51.0 flash reading but down from 52.4 in January.

ISM manufacturing reading came in at 49.5, up from 48.2 last month and above the 48.5 consensus forecast. Construction spending rose 1.5% in January, topping expectations for it to have grown 0.3%. Nonfarm productivity for the fourth quarter was down 2.2%, versus expectations for it to be down 2.9%. Markit’s services index dropped to 49.7 in February from 53.2 in January, coming in a bit below the 50.0 consensus forecast. ISM’s services index dipped 0.1 point to 53.4 in February, which was a bit above the 53.1 consensus forecast. Factory orders rose 1.6% in January, less than the forecast gain of 2.1%…

The Federal Reserve said in its latest Beige Book that reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts continued to indicate that economic activity expanded in most Districts since the previous report. “Across the nation, business contacts were generally optimistic about future economic growth,” the report added…

In Asia, the People’s Bank of China kicked off the week by cutting its reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage points, meaning banks will be required to hold lower reserves and will hopefully increase their lending. China’s official manufacturing PMI came in at 49.0, versus expectations for a reading of 49.3, while the unofficial, Caixin manufacturing reading came in at 48.0, versus the consensus 48.4 forecast. Caixin’s services PMI fell to 51.2 in February from 52.4 in January. In Europe, the overall eurozone services number came in at 53.3, versus the consensus forecast of 53.0. Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that the Chinese government intervened on Friday to support its stock market ahead of the start of the National People’s Congress’ annual meeting. Additionally, Moody’s downgraded its outlook on Chinese government debt to “negative” from “stable” days before the National People’s Congress votes on the country’s latest five year plan. The ratings agency said the downgrade was driven by expectations that China’s fiscal strength will continue to decline, along with concerns about policymakers’ credibility…