04 June 2017
The dollar fell to seven-month lows against the euro and Swiss franc  on Friday after data showed the U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected in May, but equity investors took the news in stride and pushed leading American, British and German stock indexes to record highs.MSCI's all-country world stock index hit a record high on Friday, rising 0.63 percent, as it posted a seventh straight week of gains and its longest winning streak since 2010.

Abu Dhabi's Dana Gas was buoyed for a second day on Thursday by hopes for payments from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), while blue chips rose in most other Middle Eastern markets and Egypt's index closed at a record high.

Brent crude dipped below $50 to post a second week of losses on worries Trump's decision to abandon a climate pact could spur U.S. drilling and worsen a global oil glut.Benchmark Brent crude futures fell 68 cents to settle at $49.95 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled down 70 cents at $47.66 per barrel.

Spot gold rose for a fourth straight week, up 1.02 percent to $1,278.13 an ounce, its highest since April 21.

The lackluster U.S. data lifted gold prices to a six-week peak as the report lowered expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise benchmark U.S. interest rates this year after a hike that most analysts still anticipate later in June.

In the latest news, at least six people were killed by militants who drove a van at high speed into pedestrians on London Bridge and then stabbed revelers in the nearby Borough Market area on Saturday.

Egypt issued on Thursday a long-delayed investment law aimed at easing doing business and creating incentives to lure back investors after years of turmoil.President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ratified the law, which cuts bureaucracy, especially for new projects, on Thursday after parliament passed it last month, a decree published in the official gazette showed.

Qatar's central bank sold 690 million riyals ($190 million) of Treasury bills at its monthly auction on Thursday, down sharply from 1.55 billion riyals at last month's sale, it said.

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