国际英语新闻:Dow refreshes closing high on stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report

NEW YORK, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks rebounded Friday from a sharp fall on the previous day, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new all-time closing high, as U.S. nonfarm payroll for October came in stronger than expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 167.80 points, or 1.08 percent, to end at 15,761.78 points. The Standard & Poor's 500- stock Index gained 23.46 points, or 1.34 percent, to 1,770.61 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 61.90 points, or 1.60 percent, to 3,919.23 points.

For the week, the Dow is up 0.9 percent, and the broader S&P 500 climbed 0.5 percent. But the Nasdaq dropped 0.1 percent, falling for two weeks in a row.

The U.S. nonfarm payroll grew by 204,000 in October despite the partial government shutdown, and the unemployment rate edged up to 7.3 percent, the Labor Department said Friday.

Investors are weighing the employment report and Thursday's upbeat U.S. third-quarter economic growth statistics, to see whether the U.S. economy is strong enough to let the Federal Reserve start to slow down the pace of its 85-billion-U.S. dollar monthly asset purchases program.

JPMorgan economist Robert E Mellman said Friday that the October payroll report was "much stronger than expected" given negative effects from the government shutdown.

"This stronger trend shifts the expected timing of the Fed's taper to January" compared to an earlier forecast between March and April, Mellman said in a note. But the timing could be earlier if the labor market continues to surprise on the upside and could be later if the fiscal negotiations are drawn out, he added.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported Friday that U.S. personal income rose 0.5 percent in September, beating market consensus of 0.3 percent. And consumer spending in September also rose 0.2 percent, showing that U.S. consumers spent cautiously in September ahead of the partial government shutdown.

U.S. stocks reacted little to an unexpected drop in consumer confidence in November. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan 's preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment index dropped to 72 in November from October's final reading of 73.2.

In corporate news, Twitter shares dipped 7.24 percent to 41.65 dollars apiece Friday, a day after the company made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

Gap Inc. shares rallied 9.75 percent after the apparel retailer late Thursday reported the third-quarter net sales that topped the market expectations.

On other markets, the U.S. dollar rallied against major currencies Friday on the encouraging jobs data. In late New York trading, the euro slipped to 1.3355 dollars from 1.3426 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.6002 dollars from 1.6087 dollars.

Oil prices gained following the jobs report. Traders believe the jobs report is a good economic sign with most signals pointing to improvement in the U.S. economy, and it's good for oil demand.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery went up 40 cents to settle at 94.6 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for December delivery gained 1.66 dollars to close at 105.12 dollars a barrel.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped below 1,300 dollars an ounce Friday, losing more than 2 percent in the week.

The most active gold contract for December delivery fell 23.9 dollars, or 1.83 percent, to settle at 1,284.6 dollars per ounce.