Stocks soar on jobless numbers

NEW YORK, July 5 (UPI) -- Equity markets soared Friday on news the U.S. economy added 195,000 jobs in June, 35,000 more than economists had been predicting.

Investors have been keeping a close eye on employment data following word from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke the central bank would ease its stimulus effort once unemployment dipped to 6.5 percent. In June, the unemployment rate held steady at 7.6 percent.

At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average had gained 147.29 points or 0.98 percent to 15,135.84. On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,754 issues advanced and 1,332 declined on volume of 2.63 billion shares.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 35.71 points or 1.04 percent to 3,479.38 and the Standard & Poor's 500 added 16.48 or 1.02 percent to 1,631.89.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Sent index gained 1.89 percent to 20,854.67 and Japan's Nikkei 225 added 2.08 percent to 14,309.97. In Europe, the London FTSE fell 0.72 percent to 6,375.52, Germany's DAX lost 2.36 percent to 7,806.00 and the French CAC 40 lost 1.46 percent to 3,753.85.

The 10-year U.S. treasury note lost 1 30/32 to yield 2.74 percent.

Gold lost $31.10 to close at $1,220.80 per troy ounce and silver lost 85.5 cents to $18.845.

The euro fell to $1.2832 against the dollar from $1.2979 Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 101.20 from 100.63. The U.S. dollar index gained 0.75 percent to 84.43.

On the Chicago Board of Trade, December corn lost 11 1/2 cents to $4.91 1/4, November soybeans lost 22 1/4 cents to $12.28 1/2 and September wheat lost 5 cents to $6.69.