U.S. markets closed mostly higher on Friday, driven by bargain hunting following the sharp sell-off during Thursday’s trading session. Traders took support from the Labor Department report, which showed that employment in the U.S. increased by far more than anticipated in October. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 165,000 jobs in October compared to economist estimates for the addition of 62,000 jobs. The report also showed employment surged by an upwardly revised 186,000 jobs in August and climbed by an upwardly revised 60,000 jobs in September, reflecting a net upward revision of 84,000 jobs. The report also said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent in October from 4.2 percent in September. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged. Additionally, sentiments remained upbeat as University of Michigan data showed an unexpected improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in November. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index rose to 51.0 in November from 48.0 in October. Street had expected the index to remain unchanged.
Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 237.33 points or 0.46 percent to 51,285.73, while Nasdaq surged by 264.43 points or 1.09 percent to 24,579.43 and S&P 500 increased by 23.13 points or 0.31 percent to 7,376.86.
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