* US sharemarkets posted solid gains on Friday in response to jobs data and comments from the Fed chair. Apple rose 4.3% and Boeing rose by 5.2%. The Dow Jones rose by 747 points or 3.3%. The S&P500 index was up by 3.4%. The Nasdaq index lifted by 275 points or 4.3%. Over the week the Dow rose by 2.3%, the S&P 500 lifted by 1.9% and the Nasdaq gained 2.3%
In US economic data, non-farm payrolls rose by 312,000 in December (forecast +177,000). Unemployment rose from 3.7% to 3.9%. Average hourly earnings rose by 0.4% in December to stand 3.2% higher than a year ago. The Markit services index rose from 53.4 to 54.4 in December.
* The People's Bank of China will cut the bank's reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points on both January 15 & 25.
* US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has reiterated that the central bank is not on a pre-set policy path: "Particularly with the muted inflation readings that we've seen coming in, we will be patient as we watch to see how the economy evolves."
* European sharemarkets recorded their best daily gain since June 2016. Good US jobs data, hopes of progress in US-China trade talks and soothing words from the US Fed chair all boosted investor optimism. The pan-European STOXX600 index rose by 2.8% with the UK FTSE up by 2.2% and the German Dax index was higher by 3.4%. In London trade, shares of Rio Tinto rose by 4.1% with BHP up by 4.7%.
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