From Morrison Securities Pty. Ltd:

U.S. MARKETS:

Markets will examine reports on import, producer and consumer prices this week. A handful of retailers are expected to post their latest quarterly results this week, including Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) and Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. (PSUN). The Federal Open Market Committee will give its latest policy assessment on Tuesday, and officials have signaled they are unlikely to launch new programs at the meeting.

Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires expect that higher energy prices pushed prices up last month. U.S. stocks Friday hung on to book modest gains, though a financial industry group's ruling that Greece's debt restructuring constituted de facto default undercut a stronger rise earlier in the day on upbeat jobs data.

The Dow rose as much as 60 points after the latest Labor Department payroll report came in better than expected, and stayed up most of the day. But the market sold off in late afternoon after the ruling on Greek debt, turning briefly negative before grinding out a small gain.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up 14.08 points, or 0.1%, at 12922.02. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index closed up 4.96 points, or 0.4%, at 1370.87, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 17.92 points, or 0.6%, to finish at 2988.34. Nine of the S&P's 10 sectors finished higher, led by financial and consumer-discretionary shares.

J.P. Morgan Chase led blue chips higher, rising 59 cents, or 1.5%, to close at $41.03. For New York Stock Exchange-listed names, advancers beat decliners by more than 2-to-1, and on the Nasdaq the ratio was 2.6-to-1.

On the week, the Dow ended lower thanks to Tuesday's 203-point drop, the S&P was about flat and the Nasdaq saw a small rise. It was the Dow's second down week in a row.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, known as ISDA, declared that a credit event essentially a default occurred in Greece's debt, which will likely trigger a net $3.2 billion in payouts between buyers and sellers of credit default swaps on Greek sovereign credit. The move was widely expected, especially as so called collective action clauses were imposed to complete the Greek debt swap.

The news overwhelmed stronger investor sentiment earlier in the day, after the Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls rose more than expected in February. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.3%.

Also, data showed wholesale inventories increased in January, an indication that companies anticipate increased demand for products. But the market was tempered by downbeat news on the U.S. trade deficit, which widened in January to its highest level in more than three years because of plunging exports to China and the euro zone.

EUROPEAN MARKETS

European stocks closed with uninspiring gains and the euro fell against the dollar despite a strong uptake of Greece's proposed EUR206 billion private-sector debt-restructuring program, although slightly better nonfarm payrolls figures provided some cheer in a lackluster session.

Under the terms of the bond swap announced by the Greek government early Friday, Greek bonds worth EUR172 billion were tendered out of the total EUR206 billion held by private investors, equating to an overall participation rate of 83.5%. Concerns linger, however, with the market's unease over Greece's prospects reflected in the grey market levels of the new Greek bonds that are yet to be issued.

ASIA-PACIFIC MARKETS

Japanese stocks drove a rally in Asian markets for a second straight day Friday, with exporters leading the charge against the backdrop of the yen's recent losses, a decline in Chinese inflation and optimism over Greece's debt restructuring.

The Nikkei Stock Average, which jumped 2% on the previous day, rose another 1.6% to finish the day at 9,929.74, its highest close since Aug. 1. Earlier in the day, the benchmark had briefly topped 10,000, also for the first time since Aug. 1.

Elsewhere in the region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.9% to 21,086, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index gained 1% to 4,212, South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.9% to 2,018.30 and Taiwan's Taiex climbed 0.4% to 8,016.01. China's Shanghai Composite advanced 0.8% to 2,439.46, after data showed the February consumer price index rose 3.2%, softening from a 4.5% reading in January.

The stock market rallied even as some analysts said the data may not be enough to prompt more monetary easing from Beijing in the immediate future.

After running huge trade surpluses for more than a decade, which powered growth at home and complaints abroad of unfair trading practices, China's trade sector fell deeply into the red last month, raising questions about whether China's economy is tailing off more rapidly than anticipated.

The weekend report of a $31.5 billion trade deficit for February was substantially larger than most analysts expected and followed a string of other disappointing economic data, including weak growth in car sales, industrial production and retail sales, and the continuation of a steep fall in property sales. The only bright economic star was that inflation slackened more rapidly than expected.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed mostly solidly higher on the London Metal Exchange Friday, buoyed by a strong U.S. labor report and seemingly unrattled by another sovereign-debt rating downgrade for Greece.

At the close, LME three-month copper traded at $8,495 metric ton, up 2.0% on the day, while aluminum was 1.6% higher at $2,240/ton.

The majority of upward progress was made late in the LME session, once investors had time to digest a better than expected U.S. nonfarm payroll reading.

Oil futures ended at their highest level in a week Friday after the U.S. government reported a solid gain in jobs last month, suggesting improvement in the economy of the world's biggest oil consumer.

Light, sweet crude oil for April delivery settled 82 cents, or 0.8%, higher at $107.40 a barrel, the contract's highest finish since March 1. Brent crude oil on ICE Futures Europe settled 54 cents, or 0.4%, higher at $125.98 a barrel.

The fundamental forces driving the world oil market were broadly stable in February, due to the familiar pattern of consumption growth in Asia offsetting weaker demand in the West, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Friday.

Gold futures extended gains on Friday to a third straight session, shaking off early weakness tied to positive U.S. jobs data to join oil and other metals in a commodities rally. Gold for April delivery advanced $12.80, or 0.8%, to $1,711.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices edged up 0.1% on the week.