Buyers returned to the stock market Friday after two days of heavy losses, mindful of a worse-than-expected employment report but attracted by stocks' lower prices. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 150 points.
The Labor Department said the nation's employers cut 240,000 jobs in October, hurtling the U.S. unemployment rate to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent. The market had expected employers to cut 200,000 jobs and for the unemployment rate to rise 6.3 percent.
Meanwhile, Ford reported dismal third-quarter results and announced plans to cut more than 2,000 additional white-collar jobs. General Motors is also expected to report results Friday.
Although the day's news was worse than expected, investors seemed to be attracted by stock prices beaten down the past two sessions.
Investors have been optimistic before, snapping up bargain stocks only to cash in the profits when jitters return. Barack Obama's election to the White House was preceded by a big rally, and then followed by a two-day loss of about 10 percent in the major indexes as investors turned their focus once more to the economy's woes.
Despite the gains early Friday, investors have not lost sight of the potential for a deep and protracted recession. Analysts still expect plenty of bad news to come. President-elect Obama will inherit an economy marred by a housing collapse, mounting foreclosures, hard-to-get credit and financial market upheaval when he assumes office early next year. And, the employment situation is likely to get worse. Obama is meeting Friday with economic experts to discuss the first steps toward fixing the broken economy.
To provide fresh relief, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats will push for another round of economic stimulus later this month.
In the first hour of trading, the Dow gained 144.88, or 1.67 percent, to 8,840.67.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index added 15.30, or 1.69 percent, to 920.18, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 27.50, or 1.71 percent, to 1,636.20.
On Friday, the dollar fell against most other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Light, sweet crude rose 35 cents to $61.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The three-month Treasury bill's yield was at 0.33 percent, up modestly from 0.30 percent late Thursday. A low yield suggests high demand for safe assets.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.76 percent from 3.69 percent late Thursday.
Bank-to-bank lending rates fell again, though, suggesting that banks are more willing to lend to one another _ a positive signal for the tight credit markets. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for three-month loans in dollars dropped for the 20th straight day by 0.10 percent to 2.29 percent, the lowest level since November 2004.
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