Strong Job Gains Send US Stock Market Higher

The stock market had its biggest gain since September after the US government reported another solid month of job gains. The encouraging news on the economy Friday paved the way for the Federal Reserve to begin nudging interest rates back toward normal levels at its policy meeting later this month. Energy stocks didn't join the rally, and fell instead as the price of oil took another tumble after OPEC said it wouldn't curb production. The Dow Jones industrial average soared 369 points to 17,847. The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 42 points to 2,091. And the Nasdaq composite increased 104 points to 5,142. It was an increase of 2.1% across the board.

The days gains were enjoyed by a number of retailers and biotechnology companies. Beauty product maker Avon was up 23 cents and is reportedly talking with Cerberus Capital Management about a potential deal. Discount retailer Five Below and regular clothing retailer Zumiez were up $1.52 and 74 cents respectively after better-than-expected revenue. Stock for biotech company Trevena was up 52 cents as its potential pain drug received special FDA status to help speed up its development and review. Finally, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals—which has been involved in some negative press recently—was up $1.81 and is raising $8.2 million through a private placement of stock. (More stock market stories.)