After a choppy session US stocks closed higher on Friday with a better than expected jobs report boosting confidence in the economy and its recovery.
Economically sensitive sectors like technology and financials were some of the best performers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 23 points to 10,389. The S&P500 Index is up 6 to 1,106 while the NASDAQ added 21 points to 2,194.
In economic news: The Labor Department reported that employers cut 11,000 jobs from their payrolls in November, the smallest number of job losses since the beginning of the recession in December 2007. Economists had expected a loss of 125,000 jobs for the month.
A separate survey showed the unemployment rate fell to 10% from 10.2% in October.
And factory orders rose 0.6% in October after rising 1.5% the month before.
In company news: Shares in Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) rose 3.3 per cent to $16.28. According to Reuters the company’s board is to meet on Tuesday this week and may discuss the search for a new CEO after it was revealed that current Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis is expected to retire at the end of the year.
Shares in digital technology products maker Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) added 2.97 per cent to $20.46. Intel saw its shares rise after the world’s largest contract chip maker TSMC provided an upbeat forecast.
Shares in manufacturer of internet-protocol based networking Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) gained 1.38 per cent to $24.16. The company has gained over 90% control of Norwegian company Tandberg, creating the world leader in videoconferencing equipment. Cisco sweetened its takeover offer for Tandberg by 10% after the original offer was rejected by shareholders.
And shares in closeout retailer Big Lots Inc (NYSE:BIG) soared 19.29 per cent to $28.08. The company reported stronger than expected earnings for the quarter and raised its outlook for the fourth quarter. The result thanks to lower freight costs and initial mark-up’s boosting margins.
In the NASDAQ Top 100: Marvell Technology Group was the best performer on the Nasdaq on Friday, shares rose 9.26% to $18.06, followed by Akamai Technologies and Autodesk. The worst performer was Foster Wheeler shares down 2.79% to $29.23, while Amazon.com and Activision Blizzard also closed lower.
