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Stocks surged on Friday on the back of U.S. jobs growth that easily topped analyst expectations as Wall Street wrapped up a choppy week of trading.
The Dow Jones Industrials screamed higher 266.28 points, or nearly 1%, in the first hour of trading, to 27,944.07
The S&P 500 jumped 26.58 points to 3,144.11
The NASDAQ hiked 79.79 points to 8,650.50
Shares of 3M led the Dow’s strong gains, rising more than 2%. The financials sector was the best performer in the S&P 500, jumping 1.3%.
The S&P 500 came into the session down 0.7% for the week, but Friday’s strong gains helped the index recover those losses. The Dow and NASDAQ each entered Friday trading down more than 1% week to date. The Dow was down 0.5% and the NASDAQ off 0.3%, after the session began.
The U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 266,000 jobs in November. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a gain of 187,000. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, matching its lowest level since 1969.
Friday’s report comes as investors grappled with mixed signals on the U.S.-China trade front this week. China started off the week saying it wants tariffs to be canceled as part of a “phase-one” trade deal. President Donald Trump later said he could hold off on any deal until after the 2020 U.S. election.
Other data slated for release Friday includes consumer sentiment for December, wholesale trade figures for October and the latest reading of consumer credit will all follow slightly later in the session.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury sagged, raising yields to 1.85% from Thursday’s 1.80%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell four cents at $58.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices descended $17.60 to $1,465.50 U.S. an ounce.
