(MENAFN- AFP) Wall Street stocks rose early Friday after data showed the US added a solid 211,000 jobs in November, raising expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month.
About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,646.10, up 168.43 (0.96 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 16.63 (0.81 percent) to 2,066.25, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 42.14 (0.84 percent) at 5,079.66.
The Labor Department report showed strong hiring in a broad range of industries, including construction, retail trade, finance and business services. While wage growth remained slow, the report overall indicated a firming of the jobs market.
"The 'data dependent' Fed will be reassured that the economy is showing no sign of succumbing to worries about the global outlook," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
"A December rate hike now looks to be in the bag."
Dow members ExxonMobil and Chevron fell 1.2 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, as oil prices sank following reports that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to raise its official production ceiling in an acknowledgement members are pumping above quota. The move was seen as a sign the cartel will not cut output in response to low oil prices.
Other petroleum-linked equities suffered deeper losses. Apache fell 3.6 percent, Transocean 3.5 percent and Weatherford International 4.5 percent.
Freight railroad company Norfolk Southern tumbled 6.2 percent after it rejected an unsolicited bid from Canadian Pacific, calling the offer "grossly inadequate." Canadian Pacific dropped 4.1 percent.
The Gap slid 2.0 percent as it reported a nine percent drop in November net sales, its latest in a series of lackluster sales reports.
Avon Products surged 10.0 percent following reports it is in talks to sell its North American business to Cerberus Capital Management. An investor group led by Barrington Capital that said it holds more than three percent of Avon shares called for the company to cut spending and said it opposed selling the North America wing at "fire sale" prices.
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