Stocks on Wall Street closed the week higher after a late rally erased the session's losses after a disappointing jobs report.The market had weakened for much of the day after the November jobs report missed high expectations, but other economic reports
Stocks on Wall Street closed the week higher after a late rally erased the session's losses after a disappointing jobs report.
The market had weakened for much of the day after the November jobs report missed high expectations, but other economic reports cushioned the disappointment.
The US economy added just 39,000 jobs last month, against a forecast of 144,000 in a Dow Jones survey. The November unemployment rate rose to 9.8% from 9.6% in October.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 19.68 points, or 0.2%, to 11,382.09, extending its December rally. It climbed 2.6% for the week.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5% to 2591.46, its highest close in nearly three years. The S&P 500 index rose 0.3% to 1224.71.
Other markets: Europe up, Asia mixed
European stocks fell for the first time in three sessions after the disappointing US jobs report.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended down 0.2% at 270.94, leaving it with a gain of 1.6% for the week, its best weekly showing in a month.
The UK's FTSE 100 dropped 0.4% to 5745.32, the German DAX 30 index eased 0.1% to 6947.72 and the French CAC 40 index edged up 0.1% to 3750.55.
Asian stock markets ended the week mixed as optimism over the European Central Bank's decision to continue providing short-term liquidity to banks was countered by caution ahead of US data.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.1% to 10,178.32, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 4694.22, Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.5% to 8724.01 and Korea's Kospi finished 0.4% higher at 1957.26 as heavyweight Samsung Electronics ended at an all-time high.
Among the decliners, India's Sensex gave up 0.1% to 19,966.93. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6% to 23,320.52 and China's Shanghai Composite ended down marginally at 2842.43 after moving in both directions.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude prices reached a two-year high as a falling dollar and concerns that global oil supplies may be tightening trumped a weak US jobs report.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery settled $US1.19 higher, or 1.4%, at $US89.19 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 73USc higher, or 0.8%, at $US91.42 a barrel.
Gold prices vaulted past the $US1400 mark as the US dollar tumbled.
The front-month contract, for December delivery, settled $US16.90 higher, or 1.2%, at $US1405.40 an ounce in New York. Gold last settled above $US1400 on November 11. The December contract's $US43 gain last week was the biggest since January.
Currencies: Dollar down; euro, yen up
The dollar fell sharply on the much weaker-than-expected US jobs report.
The euro was at $US1.3411 from $US1.3224 late on Thursday. It soared to $US1.3419, its strongest level since November 24.
The dollar was at ¥82.71 from ¥83.89, while the euro was at ¥110.93 from ¥110.94.
The UK pound was at $US1.5771 from $US1.5599. The dollar was at 0.9755 Swiss franc from 0.9929.
