From Morrison Securities Pty. Ltd.:

The earnings parade continues this week, with the latest results due from a handful of companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and from media giants and tobacco companies.

In addition, seven companies across a range of industries are expected to go public this week, coming off a week that has seen more intital-public-offering flops than hits.

Stocks rose Friday after the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected last month, driving the Nasdaq Composite to an 11-year high and pushing the Dow to its highest close in nearly four years.

U.S. STOCK MARKETS

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 156.82 points, or 1.2%, to 12862.23, ending the week with its best finish since May 19, 2008.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index tacked on 19.36 points, or 1.5%, to 1344.90, capping off a fifth straight weekly gain. The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite Index gained 45.98 points, or 1.6%, to 2905.66, closing at its highest level since December 2000.

All three major indexes are considered officially in a bull market as of Friday's market action, defined as 20% or higher above October's closing lows.

The S&P 500, up 6.9% so far this year, and the Nasdaq, up 12%, are each off to their best starts to a year in more than two decades. All 10 of the S&P 500's sectors rose Friday, with financials and consumer-discretionary stocks leading the way.

Bank of America rose 39 cents, or 5.2%, to $7.84, while Caterpillar added $3.61, or 3.3%, to $113.94. Friday's gains followed a strong report from the U.S. Labor Department. January data showed nonfarm payrolls rose 243,000 last month, marking the biggest gain since April.

The jobless rate fell from 8.5% to 8.3%, the lowest it has been since February 2009. Other data showed that the U.S. nonmanufacturing sector expanded at a faster rate in January, while a factory orders came in lower than expectations.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS
European stock markets rallied on Friday after much-better-than-expected U.S. jobs data supported the view that the economic recovery remains on track.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 1.7% to end at 264.60. For the week, it gained 3.6%. Markets also gained from the euro-zone composite purchasing manager's index confirming growth in private-sector activity in January. The index rose to 50.4 in January from 48.3 in December, confirming an earlier preliminary estimate.

A reading above 50 indicates growth in activity. Among the biggest movers Friday, shares of Temenos Group AG surged nearly 16% after U.K. software group Misys PLC confirmed the two companies are in preliminary talks regarding a potential merger.

Misys gained 1.2%. Bekaert SA sank 6% as ING downgraded the stock to sell. The Belgian steel-cord manufacturer said Thursday it would lay off 600 employees to reduce global production costs.

The German DAX 30 index rose 1.7% to 6,766.67. Shares of auto maker and index heavyweight Daimler AG rallied 3.1% after it said global sales of its Mercedes-Benz car brand rose 5.8% in January, helped by strong U.S. sales and gains in Japan.

Shares of rival BMW AG rose 2.9%. Bucking the positive trend in Europe, the Greece ASE Composite index fell 3.8% to 762.15, with National Bank of Greece SA (NBG) dropping 9.3%.

Media reports said Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos may resign if a new financing plan isn't backed by the three parties that support his interim unity government.

He is expected to meet with the leaders of those parties on Saturday, as he also tries to wrap up talks with private creditors to write down debt. Euro-zone finance ministers canceled a meeting that had been set for Monday.

They were due to discuss Greece's second bailout, and Dow Jones Newswires reported earlier that the meeting could be postponed to give negotiators and the Greek government more time to complete talks.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index jumped 1.8% to 5,901.07. Outperforming the British index, insurance firm Admiral Group PLC surged 7.9% after announcing an extension of its existing U.K. car-insurance reinsurance partnerships into 2014. U.K. telecommunications firm BT Group PLC rose 3.9% after posting a 41% jump in third-quarter profit, helped by cost cutting, lower finance expenses and new contracts.

The company also said it will meet some of its earnings targets a year earlier than expected. European bank shares posted strong gains. HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) rose 2.5% and Lloyds Banking Group PLC rallied 5.1% in London.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Asian stock markets ended in mixed territory Friday, with Japanese and South Korean shares losing ground, as investors digested a raft of earnings reports and turned cautious ahead of a key U.S. employment report.

Chinese stocks managed to finish higher after a lower opening, with the property sector and some other laggards finding buyers ahead of the weekend. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.5% to 8,831.93, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index shed 0.4% to 4,251.20 and South Korea's Kospi gave up 0.6% to 1,972.34. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.8% to 2,330.41, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.1% to 20,756.98 and Taiwan's Taiex advanced 0.3% to 7,674.99.

COMMODITIES
Base metals closed sharply higher on the London Metal Exchange Friday, buoyed by better-than-expected U.S. jobs data, although trade players warned that gains may not be sustained if currency pressures and issues in the euro zone come back into focus next week.

At the close, LME three-month copper was 2.6% higher at $8,560 a metric ton, while aluminum was up 2.4% at $2,247/ton. Oil futures rose sharply Friday after the U.S. government said unemployment fell last month, boosting expectations that demand from the world's biggest oil consumer will improve.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery settled $1.48, or 1.5%, higher at $97.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange settled $2.51, or 2.2%, higher at $114.58 a barrel.

The difference, or spread, between the two contracts rose to nearly $17 a barrel Friday, its widest level since mid-November. Gold futures fell 1% Friday as upbeat U.S. economic data sapped hopes of further fiscal stimulus and as some investors moved to cash in recent gains. The most actively traded contract, for April delivery, fell $19, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,740.30 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.