Strong jobs report fuels stocks

Written By limadu on Jumat, 08 Maret 2013 | 22.16

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained between 0.4% and 0.5%.

Ahead of the opening bell, the U.S. government reported that 236,000 jobs were added to the economy in February, and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7% from 7.9%.

That was much better than the 170,000 and 7.8% expected by economists surveyed by CNNMoney.

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The Dow finished at a new record Thursday, as the blue chip index and the S&P 500 advanced for a fifth straight day.

Online music streaming firm Pandora Media (P) reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and announced that its CEO will be stepping down. Pandora's shares soared.

Athletic shoe retailer Foot Locker (FL, Fortune 500) reported a significant increase in sales and profit for the fourth quarter. But its stock dipped 4%.

Citigroup's (C, Fortune 500) shares gained more than 2%, following news that the bank passed the Fed's stress test to gauge if it could weather another recession. Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500), JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) and Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) Group also passed the tests.

Herbalife (HLF) shares moved higher after activist investor Carl Icahn increased his stake in the nutritional supplement company.

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European markets were strong in afternoon trading, fueled by encouraging U.S. jobs data, while Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.2% and the Hang Seng added 1.4%. Japan's Nikkei increased 2.6% after the yen extended losses and revised data showed the country's economy has pulled out of a shallow recession.

The dollar rose against the euro, the British pound, and the Japanese yen.

Oil and gold prices fell.

The price on the 10-year Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 2.06% from 1.99% Thursday.

First Published: March 8, 2013: 9:42 AM ET

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