(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished with gains on Friday after a government release showed that employers cut fewer workers in August.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 96.66 points or 1.03% to finish at 9,441.27. The S&P 500 added 13.16 points or 1.31% to end at 1,016.40. The Nasdaq Composite rose 35.58 points or 1.79% to 2,018.78.
A Labor Department release on Friday showed the economy lost 216,000 jobs in August. It marked the 20th consecutive monthly decline in nonfarm payroll. Economists expected payrolls to decline 230,000. The unemployment rate shot up to 26-year high year high of 9.7% in August. Economists
Shares of diversified US firm General Electric (NYSE:
GE) soared 42 cents or 3.12% to close at $13.87.Moog Inc. (NYSE: MOG) announced on Friday that it is in talks to buy the Wolverhampton, U.K.-based flight control actuation product line from GE Aviation Systems, a unit of General Electric Co. Moog Inc. surged 67 cents or 2.31% to $29.66.
Equipment maker Caterpillar (NYSE:
CAT) jumped $1.07 or 2.38% to $46.11.
Software giant Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) rallied 51 cents or 2.12% to $24.62. Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) gained 35 cents or 1.63% to close at $21.84.
Shares of Walt Disney (NYSE:
DIS), the largest US theme park operator, climbed 46 cents or 1.81% to $25.90.
Energy stocks finished with gains. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:
XOM) advanced 92 cents or 1.35% to $69.18. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) rose 63 cents or 0.92% to $68.96.
Shares of Freddie Mac (NYSE:
FRE) and Fannie Mae (NYSE:
FNM) jumped 5.35% and 7.9% after the mortgage-finance companies under U.S. government control announced that they were notified by the New York Stock Exchange that they had regained compliance with the NYSE's minimum share-price listing requirement.
Early on Friday, H&R Block (NYSE:
HRB) said that its first-quarter net loss totaled $133.6 million, or 40 cents a share, compared to $132.7 million, or 41 cents a share, in the prior year-ago period. Revenue climbed to $275.5 million from $271.9 million. Shares of the company dropped 39 cents or 2.29% to close at $16.62.
Shares of Cooper Cos. Inc. (NYSE:
COO) plunged $1.01 or 3.79% to $25.66 after it said that its fiscal third-quarter income rose to $21.9 million, or 48 cents a share, from $17.9 million, or 39 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 developed and emerging nations are meeting in London to discuss the economic outlook, with the meeting wrapping up on Saturday.
European stocks settled up. The UK FTSE climbed 54.95 points or 1.15% to 4,851.70.The German DAX and French CAC increased 1.57% and 1.27% respectively.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 fell 65.82 points or 0.64% to 10,214.64. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong rose 239.68 points or 1.23% to 19,761.68.
NYMEX crude oil for October delivery climbed 1 cent to settle at $67.97 a barrel.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
