World Week Ahead Momentum gathers

World Week Ahead Momentum gathers
By Margreet Dietz Feb. 4 (BusinessDesk) – Optimism rules on the world's largest economy. Last week’s slew of reports underpinned the cautiously upbeat outlook for the US, even though one showed an unexpected contraction in American GDP in the fourth quarter. On Friday, data showed that US payrolls rose 157,000 in January, with a substantially revised 196,000 gain in the prior month and a 247,000 climb in November. The jobless rate rose to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent. Separate reports provided evidence of better-than-expected strength in...