ORLANDO, Florida, April 2 (Reuters) - World markets

reeled on Thursday, with stocks mostly lower and U.S. oil

soaring 11% after President Donald Trump indicated there will be

no let-up in the war on Iran, meaning the Strait of Hormuz won't

be opening up soon, as traders had hoped.

In my column today I look at the U.S. labor market ahead of

Friday's nonfarm payrolls. From the outside, it looks stable,

with labor supply and demand roughly balanced. But job growth

has ground to a halt and that isn't good, especially in light of

the economic pressures triggered by the Iran war.

If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I

recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets

today.

1. World anxious to open Hormuz Strait while Trump and

Iran trade threats

2. U.S. labor market remains stable; trade deficit

widens in February

3. Blue Owl limits withdrawals from two funds after

historic surge in redemption requests

4. Oil shock resilience in March - or smoke and mirrors?

Mike Dolan

5. Central banks' inflation mood puzzle: more judgment

than science

Today's Key Market Moves

* STOCKS: Asia slumps, Europe ex-UK dips, Wall Street

mixed. Japan -2%, South Korea -5%, FTSE 100 +0.7%, Wall Street

narrowly mixed.

* SECTORS/SHARES: Six S&P 500 sectors rise, five fall.

Real estate +1.5%, tech +0.7%; consumer discretionaries -1.5%.

Intel +5%, Tesla -5%.

* FX: Dollar rebounds broadly. Indian rupee surges 2%

for best day since 2013 after RBI curbs FX speculation.

* BONDS: U.S. Treasuries rise, yields -2 bps at longer

end.

* COMMODITIES/METALS: Oil soars. Brent +7% to $108/bbl,

WTI +11% to $111. WTI has biggest dollar gain in five years.

Gold -2%.

Today's Talking Points

* Seeking a Strait answer

If there's one thing driving financial market sentiment and

pricing more than anything else, it is the ebb and flow of

expectation around when the Strait of Hormuz will reopen.

Thursday's trading was a microcosm of that.

Trump strongly indicated on Wednesday there is no imminent

ceasefire, deal, or off-ramp. Stocks slumped, oil soared. Some

of these moves were reversed on Thursday on news Iran and Oman

are to monitor traffic in the Strait, fueling hopes of a

reopening. Meanwhile, the war is about to enter its sixth week.

* Blue Owl blues

Turmoil in private credit markets deepened on Thursday after

Blue Owl said it is limiting withdrawals from two funds after

record redemption requests, renewing fears over valuations,

lending standards, and potential systemic risks in the opaque

sector.

This is the latest of many cases of investors wanting to get

their money out of private credit funds, but having these

withdrawals capped. Limiting redemptions only intensifies these

concerns though, and is sure to draw even closer attention from

regulators.

* The fragile 'no hire' U.S. jobs market

The March U.S. employment report is released on Friday, and

is expected to show net 60,000 jobs added and an unchanged

unemployment rate of 4.4%. On the face of it, that doesn't look

too bad, but below the surface there's cause for concern.

Job growth is stagnant, with the six-month average payrolls

close to zero. The breakeven payrolls level is close to zero,

with labor supply cratering too. This is not a healthy labor

market, and the inflationary and economic pressures ignited by

the Iran war could expose its frailties.

What could move markets tomorrow?

* Many markets around the world closed, U.S. bond market

open until noon

* Developments in the Middle East

* Energy market moves

* Japan PMIs (March, final)

* U.S. nonfarm payrolls (March)

* U.S. PMIs (March, final)

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