NEW YORK — U.S. stocks ended firmly higher Friday, with the Dow Jones industrials rising above 11,000 for the first time in five months, after a worse-than-expected jobs report lifted expectations the Federal Reserve will soon boost monetary stimulus.
The Dow rose 57.90 points, or 0.5 percent, to end at 11,006.48, its first close above 11,000 since May 3, just days before the May 6 “flash crash.” The Dow gained 1.6 percent for the week and is now up 5.6 percent year-to-date.
Alcoa shares led the blue-chip index, jumping 5.7 percent after kicking off earnings season late Thursday with results that exceeded analysts’ expectations. The company also lifted its forecast for global aluminum demand in 2010.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.8 percent to 2,401.91, adding 1.3 percent last week. The Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 0.6 percent to 1,165.15, up 1.7 percent for the week, with materials and energy leading the way.
The stock market’s gains came after the closely watched nonfarm-payrolls report showed a net 95,000 workers lost their jobs in September, a steeper-than-expected decline.
“The jobs report didn’t change anyone’s thinking about where we are in this economic recovery,” said Brian Gendreau, market strategist with Financial Network, a financial-advisory firm.
And even though the jobs data failed to meet economists’ expectations, stocks are rising because the report is “one more piece of evidence showing the market is pricing in QE2,” referring to the Fed’s potential second round of easing.
The private sector added 64,000 jobs, which was less than economists expected and not enough to offset the big cuts in government workers.
Doug Cliggott, managing director and U.S. equity strategist at Credit Suisse, said a combination of modest private-sector job growth combined with dragging employment on the state and local government levels could be a trend that continues for many months ahead.
