Stocks jump after November jobs report shows strong gains

NEW YORK -- Stocks jumped nearly 1% after the U.S. Labor Department reported the economy gained 203,000 new jobs in November, beating expectations.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 141.02 points, or 0.9%, to 15,962.53 shortly after the opening bell on Wall Street.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 16.27 points, or 0.9%, to 1,801.30. The tech-focused Nasdaq composite index rose 28.96 points, or 0.7%, to 4,062.12.

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Investors seemed to initially brush aside concerns that good labor market news might push the U.S. Federal Reserve to ease off its monetary stimulus sooner rather than later.

Many on Wall Street expect the Fed to start tapering next year, though the Fed could start as soon as this month.

Wall Street has been obsessing over when the Fed will begin scaling back its monumental bond-buying program known as quantitative easing.

To stimulate growth, the central bank has been pumping money into the economy by buying $85 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds each month as a way to hold down interest rates.

The Fed’s easy money policies have made borrowing cheaper for consumers, home buyers and businesses.

But low interest rates have also made bonds and savings accounts less attractive to investors, nudging them into riskier investments like stocks.

The Dow has soared 22% this year as of Friday morning, while the S&P; 500 has gained 26%. The Nasdaq is up nearly 35% since Jan. 1.

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