Sawt Falasteen - Stocks rise despite weak US jobs data

Investors also shrugged off US President Donald Trump's tough words on China and his doubling of tariffs on global steel and aluminium.

Separate data on Tuesday showed that US job openings unexpectedly rose in April, calming worries about the impact of Trump's tariff blitz on the world's number one economy.

But data out Wednesday by payroll firm ADP showed private sector employment rose by 37,000 jobs last month, slowing from the 60,000 figure in April.

The figure was also sharply below the Briefing.com consensus of 115,000.

Gains in US stocks futures evaporated after the data was released but by the time trading got underway on Wall Street all three main indices edged higher.

"The report... stirred some growth concerns that led to some knee-jerk selling interest in the equity futures market and some impulse buying in the Treasury market," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

Comments by Trump that Federal Reserve Chair Powell for being "too late" to cut US interest rates had also rattled sentiment, he added.

The jobs data came ahead of crucial non-farm payrolls figures Friday, which are closely followed by the US Federal Reserve as it maps monetary policy in light of weak growth and fears of tariff-fuelled inflation.

It also came as the OECD cut its growth forecast for the United States and the rest of the world, blaming the fallout from tariffs.

- 'Soft hum of hope' -

With Trump possibly speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, the US leader said on his Truth Social platform that it was "extremely hard to make a deal" with his counterpart.

US-China tensions have ratched back up after Trump accused Beijing of violating an agreement that led to a dialling down of tit-for-tat tariffs between the world' two biggest economies.

Also on Wednesday, Trump doubled global tariffs on steel and aluminium to 50 percent, ramping up his trade war with foes and allies alike.

EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer held talks on the sidelines of an OECD ministerial meeting in Paris.

Sefcovic said in a news conference that the EU "strongly" regrets the tariff increase, adding that it "doesn't help the ongoing negotiations, especially as we are making progress".

Elsewhere, Seoul's stock market rallied more than two percent -- pushing into a bull market after rising more than 20 percent from its recent low in April -- as Lee Jae-myung won South Korea's snap presidential election. The won gained against the dollar.

- Key figures at around 1330 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 42,568.72 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 5,981.59

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 19,438.44

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,804.00

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,787.98

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 24,151.24

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 37,747.45 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 23,654.03 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,376.20 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1400 from $1.1371 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3540 from $1.3518

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 143.64 yen from 144.03 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 84.23 pence from 84.11 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $65.63 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $63.54 per barrel

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