AlHijjah 21, 1436, October 05, 2015, SPA -- European shares rose sharply on Monday, following Asian stocks higher, while the dollar was on the defensive after Friday's weak U.S. jobs data signalled the era of low-cost money had further to run, Reuters reported. Wall Street, which gained on Friday after the market saw the data pushing back the first Federal Reserve rate hike since 2006, was expected to rise later on Monday, index futures showed . Friday's data showed just 142,000 more U.S. jobs were created last month, compared with a forecast of 203,000, and that hourly wage growth fell. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 stocks index rose 2.5 percent to its highest since Sept. 22. France's CAC index gained more than 3.4 percent after forecast-beating business activity data. The euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.1229, although the yen was down 0.4 percent at 120.27 per dollar as some analysts suspect the Bank of Japan could unveil further monetary easing measures as early as Wednesday. Brent was last up 63 cents at $48.76 a barrel. Gold slipped as stocks rose and last traded at $1,132.50 an ounce, having largely held on to gains made in its biggest one-day jump in nine years on Friday.
