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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- World markets rallied Monday, with Asian stocks logging their fourth straight session of gains.
U.S. markets were closed in observance of the Labor Day holiday but last week, the bulls returned to Wall Street to start September off with a bang.
European and Asian markets took their cues from the better-than-expected U.S. economic data, including Friday's all-important jobs report, which showed fewer jobs were lost in August than economists had forecast.
The Nikkei, which hit a 16-month low on Aug. 31, launched into September with four straight sessions of gains, closing 2% higher Monday. But the Japanese stock index is still down nearly 12% from the start of the year as worries persist over the strong yen, which hit a 15-year high two weeks ago.
Still, the overall renewed optimism about the U.S. economy spilled over to other markets. The Hang Seng in China closed up 1.8% and European stocks followed the Asian indexes higher.
The CAC 40 in France ended 0.3% higher, the DAX in Germany rose 0.3%, and Britain's FTSE 100 also gained 0.2%. 
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.89% | 3.88% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.21% | 3.21% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.87% | 2.88% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.96% | 3.96% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.30% | 3.29% |
Today's featured rates:
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 12,801.23 | -89.23 | -0.69% |
| Nasdaq | 2,903.88 | -23.35 | -0.80% |
| S&P 500 | 1,342.64 | -9.31 | -0.69% |
| Treasuries | 1.97 | -0.08 | -3.81% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America Corp... | 8.07 | -0.11 | -1.34% |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 19.90 | -0.10 | -0.52% |
| Ford Motor Co | 12.44 | -0.25 | -1.97% |
| General Electric Co | 18.88 | -0.26 | -1.33% |
| Microsoft Corp | 30.50 | -0.16 | -0.54% |
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