Stocks Close Up 248 Despite Tough Jobs News

But Friday rally can't heal brutal weekly losses
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 7, 2008 3:24 PM CST
Stocks Close Up 248 Despite Tough Jobs News
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange watch President-elect Barack Obama's news conference today.   (AP Photo)

Stocks gained today despite a big bump in unemployment last month and poor earnings reports, MarketWatch reports. The indexes looked positioned for another late-Friday bloodbath but instead rose sharply in what could be a vote of confidence for President-elect Obama’s economic team. The Dow rose 248.02 to 8,943.81. The Nasdaq gained 38.70 to 1,647.40, and the S&P 500 climbed 25.87 to close at 930.75.

The rally somewhat recouped two days of steep losses. General Motors plummeted after posting a $4.2 billion quarterly loss, but like the October jobs report, the larger market appears to have already priced in the news. Obama and his team of economic advisers held a news conference, saying that another fiscal stimulus package was “long overdue.”

  • For the week, the Dow lost 4.1%, the Nasdaq fell 4.3%, and the S&P 500 shed 3.9%.
(More Dow Jones stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X