LONDON - Global shares rallied on Friday as investors cheered signs of improving Sino-American relations and looked towards more governments gradually reopening their economies.

US stocks jumped at the open on Friday as an easing in US-China friction added to optimism from data showing the US economy lost fewer jobs in April than feared due to the coronavirus crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 231.93 points, or 0.97%, at the open to 24,107.82. The S&P 500 opened higher by 27.64 points, or 0.96%, at 2,908.83, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 77.23 points, or 0.86%, to 9,056.89 at the opening bell.

Improving sentiment also put European futures comfortably in the black, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 up 0.6 percent at 339.86 points, Germany’s DAX up 0.75 percent at 10,840 and France’s CAC 40 0.6 percent higher at 4,526.

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 49 countries, was half a percent higher, while MSCI’s main European Index was up 0.64 percent.

The Euro STOXX 600 was 0.6 percent higher, helped by the construction and materials sector.

Oil prices climbed as countries including Australia moved ahead with plans to relax economic and social lockdowns put in place to halt the virus pandemic, kindling market hopes for a boost in demand for crude and its products.

Brent crude was up 77 cents, or 2.6 percent, at US$30.23 a barrel, while US oil gained US$1.06, or 4.5 percent, to US$24.61 a barrel.

Both contracts are heading for a second week of gains after the lows of April.

Core European bond yields were little changed, and the spread between German and Italian ten-year government bonds narrowed by 6 basis points.

The dollar slipped against a basket of six major currencies in early trading as investors defied the broader sense of doom. By early European trading, the dollar was edging up again, suggesting the optimism would not endure.

A public holiday in Britain means liquidity will be thin as London markets are closed.

Gold hovered near a two-week high hit in the previous session as investors awaited the US jobs report, with spot gold holding just below the highest since April 27.