US stocks open higher, lifted by strong job gains

A woman walks past a screen displaying market data and exchange rates between the Japanese yen and the US dollar outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2016.

Earlier Friday, Chinese equities bounced on another day of volatility across Asia as investors were panicked by Beijing’s attempts to stabilise its beleaguered markets, with growing fears the global economy could be teetering.

The idea behind the move was to keep China’s notoriously volatile market from dipping too much, but it seems to have had the opposite effect, creating a rush to sell off shares before the market shut down. The CSI 300 blue-chip index was up about 1.7 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index was up about 1.3 percent.

Government-linked entities stepped in to buy stocks for at least the second time this week to shore up the market, Bloomberg reported, quoting people familiar with the matter. But when trading resumed after the initial halt on Thursday it took only one minute for the 7 percent threshold to be reached, prompting a shutdown for the rest of the day. The Chinese central bank’s move to lower the band for its currency has stoked concern the world’s second-largest economy may be weaker than expected, which has driven down stock markets and growth-linked currencies such as the kiwi, which is heading for a 2.8 percent weekly decline against the greenback.

North American investors appear headed for a calmer Friday after days of upheaval spurred by events surrounding China’s currency and two of its major stock markets.

The S&P 500 (SPY) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJA) are off to the worst start ever down over 4%. The Nasdaq composite index fell 69 point, or 1.4 percent, to 4,766.

Similar speculation has been heard before, and investors have repeatedly called for Xiao’s head in recent months over the government’s interventions following the market falls. In Europe, the CAC in Paris fell 1.7 percent while London’s FTSE dropped 2.7 percent. Korea’s Kospi added 13.29 points, 0.7 percent, to 1,917.62. And in spite of Friday’s recovery, China’s markets finished the week some 10 percent down on Monday’s opening, declining to their lowest level in several months.

Regulators suspended the “circuit breaker” rule late on Thursday.

On Thursday, authorities lowered the yuan’s central rate against the United States dollar by 0.51 percent to 6.5646, the lowest since March 2011.

“We suspect this is poor communication by the People’s Bank rather than a deliberate devaluation”, said David Rees of Capital Economics in a report.

In energy trading, US crude sank Thursday to its lowest level in 12 years on fears Chinese demand might weaken. The benchmark US rebounded moderately in Asian daytime hours, rising 67 cents to $33.94 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper producer Freeport-McMoRan lost 34 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $5.83.