Friday's Market Open: Stocks Head Higher On Positive Jobs Report

Traders turned their attention to economic news and corporate results Friday as the Labor Department reported employers increased the number of jobs last month well above expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 253 points iat noon to 27,300 while the Nasdaq Composite added 64 points to 8,356 and the S&P 500 gained 22 points to 3,059.

U.S. payrolls added 128,000 jobs in October, well above the September and August net of 95,000, while the unemployment rate ticked up a fraction to 3.6% from 3.5% in September.

Average hourly earnings were up 3% compared with October of last year.

The positive numbers came despite a 40-day strike by the United Autoworkers against General Motors which sent 46,000 employees to picket lines. Friday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated the labor market remained healthy, with employers adding an average 167,000 jobs a month this year, down from last year’s 233,000 average.

Later Friday, Markit releases its October purchasing managers’ index and Institute for Supply Management releases its manufacturing index.

On the corporate earnings front, Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) blamed weaker global oil and gas prices cut into profits and revenue. The Texas energy giant reported third-quarter earnings of $3.17 billion or 75 cents a share compared with $6.25 billion or $1.46 a share in the year ago quarter. Revenue fell to $65,05 billion from $76.61.

Global markets were mostly higher.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.72% higher and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.99%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.33%. Australia’s S&P/ASX added 0.09%.

In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 closed 0.74% higher while the German DAX gained 0.82% and the French CAC 40 added 0.64%.

The British pound was up 0.05% at $1.2949 while the euro dipped 0.16% at $1.11572. The U.S. dollar index was off 0.16%

Oil futures were higher. Crude oil gained 1.97% at $55.25 a barrel while Brent crude gained 1.9% to $60.75. Gold and silver were lower.