World stock indexes climbed and US Treasury yields were near unchanged yesterday after data showed weaker-than-expected US jobs and wage growth in April, bolstering investor views that the pace of US rate hikes will be gradual.

Gains in shares of Apple helped US stocks after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake in the iPhone maker.

The Labour Department’s closely watched report showed non-farm payrolls increased by 164,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate was at 3.9 per cent. However, wages edged up only 0.1 per cent, easing concerns that inflation pressures were increasing.

The US central bank on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged and said it expected annual inflation to run close to its “symmetric” 2 per cent target over the medium term. Yields on US benchmark 10-year notes and 30-year yields earlier slid to two-week lows, while those on two-year notes fell to a one-week trough.

Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 5/32 in price to yield 2.9628 per cent, from 2.946 per cent late on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 255.5 points, or 1.07 per cent, to 24,185.65, the S&P 500 gained 25.36 points, or 0.96 per cent, to 2,655.09 and the Nasdaq Composite added 98.48 points, or 1.39 per cent, to 7,186.63.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.62 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.57 per cent.

The US dollar rose to its highest levels this year against a basket of currencies despite the weaker-than-expected jobs data. The dollar index jumped to 92.90, the highest level since December 28.

The dollar index rose 0.35 per cent, with the euro down 0.46 per cent to $1.1932.

The dollar has gained as investors bet that the Fed will continue raising rates while other central banks, including the European Central Bank, will act more slowly.

While the Fed is seen raising interest rates at least two more times this year, expectations of policy tightening from the ECB and the Bank of England are receding.

That has driven the difference between German and US government bond yields to near the highest in nearly three decades, with the short-dated and long-dated “transatlantic spread” standing at 305 and 240 basis points respectively.

In the oil market, US crude rose 1.4 per cent to $69.39 per barrel and Brent was last at $74.58, up 1.3 per cent on the day.