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Jobless jump fails to halt stocks' advance
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NEW YORK - Investors undaunted by a surprisingly weak jobs report found enough positive news to nudge stocks higher Friday.
News that the nation's unemployment rate rose above 10 percent last month for the first time in 26 years didn't derail the stock market's strong gains in the week, which lifted major indexes more than 3 percent.
The rise in joblessness to 10.2 percent in October, while bad news for the economy, reassured some investors that the Federal Reserve will have to hold interest rates low for some time. That tends to weaken demand for the dollar, which gives stocks a boost.
When the dollar is weaker, U.S. goods are cheaper for buyers overseas. Companies that do business overseas also get a profit gain when their earnings are translated back into dollars.
Safe-haven assets like Treasurys were mixed. Oil prices tumbled and gold topped $1,100 an ounce for the first time.
The jobs report bodes poorly for consumer spending, a key driver of the economy.
The Labor Department said employers cut 190,000 jobs last month, fewer than the 219,000 jobs lost in September, but more than forecast.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.46, or 0.2 percent, to 10,023.42, boosting its gain for the week to 311 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.67, or 0.3 percent, to 1,069.30, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 7.12, or 0.3 percent, to 2,112.44.
For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 index added 3.2 percent, while the Nasdaq rose 3.3 percent.
Bond prices mostly climbed. The 10-year Treasury note rose, pushing its yield down to 3.51 percent from 3.53 percent late Thursday.
Oil fell $2.12 to settle at $77.87 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold rose $6.40 to settle at $1,095.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, adding 5.3 percent for the week.
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