Wall Street swung on Friday as investors digested better-than-expected job data.
The U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Friday morning as the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 10 percent from a 26-year-high of 10.2 percent in October.
The Labor Department said that U.S. employers cut a far-fewer- than-expected 11,000 jobs in November, the smallest decline since the start of the recession in December 2007, suggesting the deterioration in the labor market was in its final stages.
According to the report, employment in the service sector rose by 58,000 in November, but that was more than offset by manufacturing companies shedding 41,000 jobs and construction companies cutting 27,000. Health-care employment continued to rise in November, by 21,000. The industry has added 613,000 jobs since the recession began at the end of 2007.
However, major indexes fell off session highs as jobs data bolstered the U.S. dollar and raised questions about whether interest rates will rise.
The U.S. dollar extended its gains on Friday afternoon as rival currencies capitulated to the greenback's show of strength on expectations
U.S. interest rates could rise earlier than previously thought.
Stocks of energy and basic material retreated as crude futures ended at their lowest point in nearly two months on the stronger dollar.
"Despite the growing optimism surrounding the U.S. job market, there is still cause for caution over where the jobs will come from," Bill Gross, Pimco's co-chief investment officer and founder, told CNBC.
"There have been significant structural breaks in historical models centered around consumption, and finance and residential and commercial real estate, and many of those jobs are never coming back and that implies more
than cyclical problems here," added Gross.
The Commerce Department said on Friday that orders placed with U.S. factories rose in October for the sixth time in the past seven months. The
factory orders rose 0.6 percent in October after a revised 1.6-percent gain for September. Demand for non-durables such as petroleum and food, which often reflects changes in prices, rose 1.6 percent, while bookings for durable goods fell 0.6 percent.
Shares of Bank of America Corp. rose more than 2 percent after the company said that it raised more than 19 billion dollars selling new
securities to help the giant lender wean itself from government support.
The Dow Jones average was up 22.07, or 0.21 percent, to 10,388. 22. The S&P 500 rose 5.97, or 0.54 percent, to 1,105.89 and the Nasdaq index was up 21.21 to 2,194.35.