NEW YORK -- Stocks closed higher today after the government's jobs report showed continued economic strength with only mild inflationary pressures. Financial stocks, which benefit the most from stable interest rates, led the gains. Dow gains 65
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 64.84 at 10,704.48. An early 193-point gain briefly put the Dow back within 500 points of the record close of 11,326.04 set on Aug. 26.The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 7.59 to 1,370.23, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 46.34 to 3,102.29, its sixth consecutive record.
Advancers beat decliners by a 4-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,751 up, 1,297 down and 481 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 1.008 billion shares vs. 976.68 million yesterday.
The NYSE composite index rose 2.64 to 627.36; the American Stock Exchange composite index gained 1.74 to 809.21; and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.51 to 442.41.
The 30-year Treasury bond rallied 23/32 point, or $7.19 per $1,000 face amount; its yield fell to 6.04 percent from 6.10 late yesterday. Two-year yields fell 4 basis points to 5.71 percent.
The early stock rally came after the Labor Department reported the nation's unemployment rate dipped to 4.1 percent in October, a new 29-year low, as 310,000 workers found jobs.
But despite the continued strength of the labor market, which can force companies to pay employees more and to raise prices, the average hourly wage grew by a tiny 0.1 percent to $13.37 in October, less than many analysts had anticipated.