US Stocks surge as US job growth roars back in November

The US stock market finished session higher on Friday, 06 December 2019, as a surprisingly upbeat monthly jobs report renewed strength that President Trump's economic agenda is working and offsetting some of the jitters about U.S.-China trade deal. At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 337.27 points, or 1.2%, to 28,015.06, while the S&P 500 index gained 28.48 points, or 0.9%, to 3,145.91, and Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 85.83 points, or 1%, to 8,656.53.

The U.S. economy added 266,000 jobs in November, according to figures released by the Labor Department. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, matching its lowest level since 1969.

The White House said the labor market's renewed strength is evidence President Trump's economic agenda is working and tried to dismiss the Democrats' impeachment push as a political sideshow. As Democrats began a process for impeaching Trump in the past two months, the White House has sought to play up positive economic news as a sign that his stewardship of financial conditions was working.

Friday's jobs report puts the US in a stronger position for trade war negotiations after mixed signals on the U.S.-China trade front this week. China started off the week saying it wants tariffs to be canceled as part of a phase one trade deal. President Donald Trump later said he could hold off on any deal until after the 2020 U.S. election. However, Trump said on Thursday that the two countries were inching closer to a trade deal. China's State Council on Friday began the process of exempting some soybeans and pork imported from the U.S. from import tariffs.

Both sides have less than 10 days to go before Washington is poised to impose even more tariffs on Chinese goods. Tariffs on another $156 billion in Chinese goods are set to go into effect on Dec. 15.

Financial stocks rallied, as the much stronger-than-expected November jobs data pushed up bond yields. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 4.7 basis points to 1.842%, Bank of America increased 1.8%, Citigroup rose 1.5%, and J.P. Morgan gained 1.5%.

Chevron and Exxon Mobil both gained after news OPEC is deepening its crude oil production cuts. Chevron shares rose 1.4% and Exxon's stock gained 1.6%.

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