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Shares rise ahead of U.S. jobs data; oil falls

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange April 2, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Thursday after two sessions of losses, as a fall in jobless claims raised optimism ahead of a key payrolls report, while oil tumbled on fears of worsening oversupply if sanctions over Iran's nuclear program are dropped. Data showing an unexpected fall in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits boosted sentiment before the U.S. Labor Department's nonfarm payrolls report for March, which will be released on the Good Friday holiday. U.S. and European stock markets will be closed on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters expect a gain of 245,000 jobs, down from 295,000 in February. Weak payrolls would not necessarily spook Wall Street since a below-consensus jobs number could ease concerns over a nearer-term Federal Reserve interest rate rise. The benchmark U.S. S&P 500 index <.SPX> notched a modest weekly gain after declining 2.2 percent last week. "The jobless claims numbers continue to point to improved labor markets and good prospects ahead, but soft data for the first quarter should keep the Fed on hold," said Michael Jones, chief investment officer at RiverFront Investment Group in Richmond, Virginia. "It's a goldilocks for the market." Oil prices fell as much as 5 percent as Iran and world powers reached a preliminary pact on Tehran's nuclear program, but pared losses after officials said talks for a final agreement will continue through June. Tehran is hoping for a deal that will end crippling economic sanctions and allow it to sell millions of barrels of oil. A measure of equity indexes worldwide rose, boosted by gains in U.S., emerging markets and Japanese shares. European shares slipped after Greece's lenders said the country needed to do more to unlock financial aid. MSCI's all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS> was last up 0.71 percent at 427.57. The FTSEurofirst index <.FTEU3> of 300 leading European companies closed down 0.20 percent at 1,586.76. The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 65.06 points, or 0.37 percent, at 17,763.24. The S&P 500 <.SPX> closed up 7.27 points, or 0.35 percent, at 2,066.96. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> closed up 6.71 points, or 0.14 percent, at 4,886.94. Brent crude settled down $2.15, or 3.8 percent, at $54.95 a barrel. U.S. crude settled down 95 cents, or 1.9 percent, at $49.14 a barrel. Safe-haven benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were last down 13/32 in price to yield 1.91 percent, up from a yield of 1.87 percent late on Wednesday. The dollar slipped against major currencies on profit-taking ahead of the jobs report, which could lead to volatile trading on thin volumes in the currency market. "This is just positioning ahead of payrolls, and the fear is that payrolls could come in weaker than expected," said Vassili Serebriakov, currency strategist, at BNP Paribas in New York. The dollar index <.DXY>, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last down 0.67 percent, at 97.527. U.S. gold for June delivery slipped $7.30 an ounce to settle at $1,200.90. (Reporting by Sam Forgione; Additional reporting by Lionel Laurent in London and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Ryan Vlastelica in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish and Jonathan Oatis)