WASHINGTON: US stocks opened sharply higher Friday, more than erasing the previous day's losses, after government data showed steady growth in private sector job creation in April.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 149.55 points (1.19 percent) to 12,733.72 in opening trade.
The broader S&P 500 gained 17.41 (1.30 percent) at 1,352.51, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 34.29 points (1.22 percent) to 2,849.01.
The Labor Department reported that 244,000 nonfarm jobs were added to the US economy, with a strong surge in hiring in the services sector.
But the jobless rate -- based on a separate survey -- nevertheless climbed to 9.0 percent in April from 8.8 percent in March, underscoring the political challenge to the administration of President Barack Obama from still-slow economic growth.
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