Stocks Opened Higher after Upbeat Jobs Report

U.S. stocks rose sharply at the open on Friday after a stronger-than-expected report on employment conditions in November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately jumped 242.60 points, or 0.88%, to 27,920.39. The S&P 500 rose 24.88 points or 0.80%, to 3,142.31. The Nasdaq Composite gained 72.41 points, or 0.84%, to 8,643.11.

Oil futures headed lower Friday as OPEC and other major producers of crude aim to ratify a deeper reduction of output that has been agreed upon in principle but must be unanimously approved by the cartel’s 14-member group. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery shed 35 cents, or 0.6%, at $58.08 a barrel. February Brent crude lost 27 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $63.12 a barrel.

The Labor Department’s report on the health of the U.S. job market reflected surging employment gains and a joblessness rate at a 50-year low. Non-farm payrolls rose by a much better-than-expected 266,000 during the month. This was well above the 180,000 consensus, which had already been one of the strongest expectations of the year heading into a jobs report.