The Dow Jones Industrial Average
rose 369.96 points, or 2.1%, to 17847.63, for its biggest increase since
Sept. 8. The S&P 500 rose 42.07, or 2.1%, to 2091.69, while the
Nasdaq Composite rose 104.74, or 2.1%, to 5142.27.
The rally more than reversed the previous session's sharp losses, when
disappointment over the size of the European Central Bank's fresh
stimulus measures caused investors to unwind many popular bets they had
piled into this year.
However, Friday's surge only
narrowly tipped the Dow back into positive territory for 2015, a year
that has experienced large swings. The Dow is up 0.1% so far this year
and rose 0.3% this past week.
"I struggle to think
of a scenario where the S&P [500] is up double digits, but I can
easily think of scenarios where we're down double digits" next year,
said Michael Fredericks, portfolio manager of the BlackRock Multi-Asset
Income fund. "We've been cutting back on our U.S. equity exposure over
the last month."
The stock market faces challenges
as it heads into 2016, particularly from tepid global growth and
troubled sectors such as energy. The S&P 500's energy-company index
lost 0.5% Friday and is down 19% for the year.
U.S.
crude oil declined 2.7% to $39.97 a barrel as the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries ended a meeting without an agreement to
restrain production, leaving members to continue pumping crude at
near-record levels into an oversupplied market.
Traders said buyers took advantage of Thursday's stock-price declines to
buy at cheaper levels, especially since there is little time for the
market to post a strong recovery before the end of the year.
"We'll probably almost run out of time for things to look great by
the year-end," said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and
derivatives at Charles Schwab. It could be possible "if we have three
weeks of gains like today, but that sounds unlikely."
The jobs report, some investors said, removed lingering uncertainty in
the market about whether the economy is healthy enough for the Fed to
start raising interest rates at its Dec. 15-16 meeting.
Investors also believe the pace of rate increases would be slow amid an uneven pace of global economic growth.
The U.S. Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls increased a
seasonally adjusted 211,000 jobs in November, beating expectations for
200,000 jobs.
"This pretty much locks in the first
rate hike this month," said Brian Nick, head of tactical asset
allocation at UBS Wealth Management Americas.
All 30 Dow components rose. The biggest gainer, Apple, advanced $3.83, or 3.3%, to $119.03.
The rate-sensitive financial sector gained 2.7% and helped lead
Friday's rally. A rate increase should bode well for financial
companies, investors said, because lenders will be able to charge
borrowers more while earning more on reserves.
