US employment (non-farm payrolls) rose by 227,000 in February. The January result was upgraded by 41,000 to show job gains of 284,000. The jobless rate was stable at 8.3pct.

The US trade deficit widened from $50.42 billion to $52.57bn in January, above forecasts of $49bn. China´s trade deficit widened to a decade high $31.5bn in February with imports up 39.6pct over the year while exports rose by 18pct.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), has determined that the Greek bond swap is a ´´credit event´´ and thus triggers a payout on CDS contracts.

European shares rose on Friday. There was relief as Greece secured a bond swap deal with private creditors. An easing in Chinese inflation also buoyed sentiment. And US jobs data exceeded market forecasts. Positive news offset end-week profit taking. The benchmark FTSEurofirst 300 index rose by 0.4pct with the UK FTSE up 0.5pct while the German Dax gained 0.7pct.

US sharemarkets rose sharply at the start of trade following the upbeat jobs data but drifted lower over the day in response to profit taking. The Dow Jones by 14pts or 0.1pct. The S&P 500 rose by 0.4pct and the Nasdaq gained almost 18pts or 0.6pct. Over the week the Dow lost 0.4pct but the S&P 500 rose by 0.1pct and the Nasdaq rose by 0.4pct.

US treasuries drifted on Friday as investors braced for more supply. US Treasury will sell $32 billion in three-year notes on Monday; $21 billion in 10-year debt on Tuesday and $13 billion in 30-year bonds on Wednesday. US 2yr yields rose by around 1pt to 0.32pct and US 10yr yields rose by 1.5pts to 2.03pct. Over the week US 2yr yields rose by 4.5pts and 10yr yields rose by 5pts.

Major currencies drifted lower against the greenback in European and US trade on Friday. The Euro eased from highs near US$1.3270 to around US$1.3095, and was near US$1.3120 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar eased from highs around US106.60c to US105.65c, and was close to US105.75c in late US trade. And the Japanese yen eased from 81.50 yen per US dollar to JPY82.64 and was near JPY82.41 in late US trade.

Benchmark crude oil prices rose again on Friday, buoyed by solid US jobs data, and on hopes that latest Chinese economic data will lead to easier monetary policy. But a firmer greenback restrained prices. US Nymex rose by US82c or 0.8pct to US$107.40 a barrel while London Brent crude rose by US54c to US$125.98 a barrel. Over the week Nymex rose by 0.7pct and Brent rose by 1.9pct.

Base metal prices rose on Friday with optimism sparked by the Greek bond deal and US jobs data. Metals rose 1.1-2.7pct but lead slipped 0.1pct. Over the week metals fell between 0.9-3.9pct with aluminium faring worst. The gold price also rose with the April Comex gold price up by US$12.80 or 0.8pct to US$1,711.50 an ounce. Gold was flat over the week.

Ahead: In Australia, there are public holidays in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. Credit and debit card lending data is due. In the US, daylight saving commenced at the weekend (sharemarket closes now at 7am AEDT). The monthly federal budget is released.