NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks rose Friday after a government report showed the U.S. added more jobs than expected in November, increasing optimism that consumer spending will fuel corporate profit growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 136.46, or 1.5 percent, to 9016.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 26.60, or 2.3 percent, to 1176.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index, packed with computer shares, climbed 48.83, or 2.5 percent, to 2003.16. Almost twice as many shares rose as fell on the New York Stock Exchange.Still, for the week, the Dow fell 3.3 percent. The S&P 500 dropped 1.3 percent from last Friday's record and the Nasdaq lost 0.7 percent.
Volume on the Big Board Friday totaled 706 million shares, below the daily average of 749 million for the past three months.
The New York Stock Exchange Composite Index rose 10.04 to 573.49, the American Stock Exchange Composite Index gained 6.86 to 660.39. The Russell 2000 Index of small stocks rallied 3.37, or 0.9 percent, to 398.37, lagging the 2.3 percent surge in the S&P 500.
Regional banks such as Bank One Corp. led the gain on the prospect of stronger demand for credit. Computer-related companies, such as Microsoft Corp. and Lucent Technologies Inc., also rallied.
"The jobs numbers give us additional confidence that things will probably be better than most people anticipated," said Howard Kornblue, a money manager for Pilgrim America Group Inc., which oversees $3 billion. "We're looking for some pretty decent earnings growth next year."
The Labor Department said the economy added 267,000 jobs last month, exceeding analysts' forecasts of 169,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent, while it was expected to stay unchanged at 4.6 percent.
The report "tells us that things are not only in fairly decent shape here (in the United States) but actually are quite robust," said Bill Meehan, chief market analyst at brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. in Stamford, Connecticut.
Concerned that slowing economies abroad are taking a toll on the U.S., analysts trimmed estimates for fourth-quarter earnings growth to 5.2 percent from 9.3 percent at the beginning of October, according to First Call Corp. Estimates for 1999, though, remain little changed at 18.8 percent.
Some 172 companies touched year-long highs Friday, while 220 fell to lows.
"A strong economy would continue to support ongoing loan growth," said Scott Edgar, the director of research at Sife Trust Fund in Walnut Creek, California, which manages $1 billion.
BankBoston Corp. climbed 2 5/16 to 41 1/4 after plunging 8.7 percent yesterday. The stock fell amid signs Brazil's economy is heading for recession. BankBoston gets about one-fifth of its profits from Latin America.
Money flow into BankBoston shares shows that investors may expect the shares to decline in coming weeks. Investors over the last two months sold more shares as the stock fell than they bought as it rose, according to Bloomberg Analytics.
Companies that benefit from consumer spending rallied on the jobs report. Growth "is going to preserve jobs, and that enables people to spend money to keep the (economic) cycle going," said Kornblue, who recently bought shares of toymaker Mattel Inc. and insurer American General Corp. for his Pilgrim MagnaCap Fund.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. rose 1 11/16 to 73 3/16. Auto stocks rallied, sending Ford Motor Co. up 1 1/4 to 56 3/8. General Motors Corp. rose 1 1/2 to 69 1/2.
Semiconductor stocks added to their gains in the final hour of trading after the Semiconductor Industry Association said computer-chip sales rose 6.2 percent in October from September's level. Intel Corp. rose 6 13/16 to 116 5/16, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. gained 1 7/8 to 31 3/8. Micron Technology Inc. rallied 3 3/4 to 50 1/8, a 52-week high.
Demand for computers and related equipment tends to rise in a buoyant economy as companies boost their spending on gear that increases efficiency.
Lucent jumped 7 3/8 to 95 3/4 after the world's largest phone equipment maker told analysts and investors in a closed-door meeting that demand for its products is strong and all of its major plants are running at capacity.