World stocks hold gains; dollar dips on U.S. labor data, yuan surge

World stocks shrugged off weakness on Wall Street to cling to gains after hitting their highest level since mid-2015 on Thursday, bolstered by strong Chinese data that added to optimism about global growth and inflation. The dollar lost ground against the yen and euro after U.S. labor data failed to reverse a downtrend that followed some of the biggest gains on record for China's yuan. The index has been riding a wave of upbeat factory and service sector surveys out of the United States, Europe