US stocks surge on solid US jobs report

NEW YORK: US stocks surged Friday, boosted by the Labor Department's July labour report showing stronger-than-expected jobs growth and a slight increase in services sector activity.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 13,096.17, up a hefty 217.29 points (1.69 per cent).

The tech-rich Nasdaq leaped 58.13 points (2.00 per cent) to 2,967.90, while the S&P 500-stock index advanced 25.99 points (1.90 per cent) to 1,390.99.

The United States added 163,000 jobs in July and the jobless rate ticked up a tenth of one per cent to 8.3 per cent, the Labour Department said.

Most analysts expected 100,000 jobs would be gained and the jobless rate to hold at 8.2 per cent for a third straight month.

It was the strongest jobs gain and the highest jobless rate since February, but the mixed report was generally seen as a sign of resilience in the economy.

"With regard to the economic outlook, today's report clearly supports our view that the US economy should expand at a faster pace in the second half of the year than it did in the first half," UniCredit analysts said.

A slightly better reading on the US services sector, courtesy of the Institute for Supply Management, reaffirmed the economy's sluggishness.

Twenty-eight of the 30 stocks in the blue-chip Dow were higher, led by Kraft Foods, up 4.2 per cent after reporting second-quarter earning that beat expectations.

Financials surged, with Bank of America gaining 3.6 per cent and American Express ahead 2.1 per cent.

Procter & Gamble, the US consumer-products giant, rose 3.2 per cent after posting a 45 per cent rise in quarterly profit, to US$3.6 billion, well above Wall Street estimates.

LinkedIn, the professional social media company, soared 16 per cent to US$104.87 after second-quarter profit was better than anticipated.

The equities rally snapped a four-day losing streak.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, in post-meeting remarks Thursday, announced no immediate measures to address the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, disappointing investors.

The Dow and the S&P each dropped 0.7 per cent, and the Nasdaq lost 0.4 per cent. -- AFP