国际英语新闻：U.S. stocks surge on encouraging economic data

NEW YORK, April 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks surged on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average approaching 11,000, as more economic data showed U.S. economy was on the mend.

The Labor Department said on Friday that U.S. added 162,000 jobs in March, the biggest increase in over two years. However, the jump was not strong enough to budge the unemployment rate from 9.7 percent and still lower than economists had expected.

The market was closed when the report released, so investors didn't have chance to act on the data until Monday.

Further lifting the market, the number of buyers who agreed to purchase previously occupied homes rose sharply in February.

A trader works in the New York Stock Exchange, the United States, April 5, 2010. Wall Street ended at 18-month high on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average approaching 11,000, as more economic data showed U.S. economy was on the mend

According to the National Association of Realtors, its index of pending home sales jumped to 97.6 in February from downwardly revised 90.2 in January, far exceeding market expectation of 90.3.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said U.S. service sector, which accounts for some two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years. The ISM service index climbing to 55.4 in March from 53 in February, above economists' forecasts of 54.0.

The ISM non-manufacturing index also showed its employment component rose slightly in March, while new orders jumped as well.

The Conference Board, a private research group, said the U.S. job market strengthened for a seventh straight month in March, with fewer Americans having trouble finding work.

U.S. benchmark Treasury yields touched 4 percent for the first time in 10 months on Monday amid expectations the Federal Reserve will pursue a less accommodative monetary policy to forestall a pickup in inflation.

Oil prices rose to the highest level in nearly 18 months. The benchmark crude for May delivery rose to as high as 86.90 U.S. dollars a barrel before retreating to settle at 86.62 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.48, or 0.43 percent, to 10,973.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 9.33, or 0.79 percent, to 1,187.43 and the Nasdaq was up 26.95, or 1.12 percent, to 2,429.53.