国际英语新闻：U.S. stocks set new highs on optimistic economic outlook

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Wednesday, with all three major indexes setting new highs in over two years, as market sentiment was boosted by a strong report on jobs market.

According to payroll company Automatic Data Processing Inc, private sector added 297,000 jobs in December, far more than economists had expected.

The report said the gain "suggests nonfarm private employment grew very strongly in December, at a pace well above what is usually associated with a declining unemployment rate."

Investors were boosted by the big increase in ADP jobs data as they awaited the more closely-watched nonfarm payroll report from the Labor Department on Friday.

"We were looking for a 100,000 but it came in at 297,000, great number. But again, it's ADP, which historically has troubles with their numbers, so we're gonna watch that. Friday we' ll get our big jobs number. Most people are looking for unemployment rate to tick down one point to 9.7 percent, which is at least going to the right direction," Alan Valdes, a veteran trader in the New York Stock Exchange, told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, a separate report on service sector also help push the market higher.

The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) non-manufacturing index, which covers about 80 percent of the economy, rose to 57.1, higher than expected, up from 55 in November. This was the 12th straight month of growth and also the fastest growth pace in more than four years. The report said businesses "overall are mostly positive about business conditions."

However, the second consecutive day of selloff in commodities checked the gains in equity market.

Gold for February delivery extended Tuesday's losses and settled down 5.10 dollars to 1,373.17 U.S. dollars an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Crude bounced back to over 90 dollars a barrel on Wednesday as investors came in to "buy the dip".

Among the stocks in focus, Disney rallied 2.49 percent to lead the gainers in the Dow components after both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs released bullish research reports about the media company.

When the market closed on Wednesdays, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 31.71 points, or 0.27 percent, to 11,722.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 6.36 points, or 0.50 percent, to 1,276.56 and the Nasdaq was up 20.95 points, or 0.78 percent, to 2,702.20. Enditem