Stocks hold near 1-1/2 year highs before U.S. jobs data

By Alistair Smout
LONDON (Reuters) – World stocks <.MIWD00000PUS> held near 1-1/2 year highs and the dollar moved up from a three-week low on Friday, with investors looking ahead to U.S. jobs data to provide clues on the pace of U.S. interest rate rises this year.
MSCI’s gauge of the world’s stock markets hit its highest since July 2015, taking its gains so far this year to 1.7 percent, helped by this week’s generally upbeat economic readings in the U.S., China and