By Donna Kardos Yesalavich
NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- U.S. stocks opened higher Friday as the
government's report of fewer job losses in February than expected
boosted sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was up 48 points, or
0.5%, to 10493, in early trading. Industrial giants Boeing (BA) and
Caterpillar (CAT) led the measure's gains, with Boeing up 1.5% and
Caterpillar up 1.4%.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) rose 0.5%. The Standard & Poor's
500 (SPX) also climbed 0.5%, with its energy sector leading the
gains as crude-oil futures rose above $81 a barrel. Among the
sector's gainers, Massey Energy (MEE) jumped 2.9% while Peabody
Energy (BTU) rose 1.4%.
The industrial sector was also particularly strong, along with
materials as metals futures rose.
In other markets, the dollar strengthened while Treasurys fell,
with the 10-year note off 15/32 to yield 3.663%. Gold futures
climbed with other commodities.
The action came after the Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls
fell by 36,000 in February compared with a revised 26,000 drop in
January. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires were expecting
payrolls to fall by 75,000 mainly because of the severe weather.
The January figure was revised from an originally reported 20,000
decline.
The unemployment rate remained at 9.7% last month. Economists
had forecast the jobless rate would edge higher to 9.8%. The
better-than-expected jobs data came despite stormy weather on the
East Coast last month which the government said may have
temporarily hit payrolls and work hours.
"It has some weather distortions in it, but if you look through
them you will see some hints that we'll likely see payroll numbers
turn positive in the coming months," said Michael Strauss, chief
economist and market strategist at Commonfund, an investment
manager for nonprofit institutions. "The surprising thing is the
weather impact wasn't greater. As weather normalizes a bit in
March, we may see some fairly solid labor-market readings."
Also in focus, a report from the Nikkei newspaper said the Bank
of Japan may take further easing measures, news that sent the
Nikkei 225 up over 2% in Tokyo and lifted the dollar against the
Japanese yen.
The dollar also strengthened against the euro Friday as Greek
Prime Minister George Papandreou was due to meet in Luxembourg
Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the Eurogroup forum of euro-zone
finance ministers, before meeting with German Chancellor Angela
Merkel in Berlin later in the day.
The meetings come as the Greek parliament began a debate on the
government's recently announced austerity package as thousands of
public sector workers walked off the job in a series of hastily
announced strikes to protest the measures.
Among stocks in focus, communications chip maker Marvell
Technology Group (MRVL) fell 1.4% despite reporting a
fourth-quarter profit rise and first-quarter guidance that beat
analyst estimates.
InterMune (ITMN) surged 61% after the company said U.S.
government regulators will review the new drug application for its
pirfenidone idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment next week.
Still to come are data on consumer credit, due at 3 p.m.
EST.