US stocks: Dow ends at 11,000+
The milestone, which effectively erases the effects of a long summer slump for stocks, comes one day before the three-year anniversary of the market's all-time high. The Dow is still 22.3 percent below that level.
The last time the Dow closed above 11,000 was May 3, just three days prior to a harrowing "flash crash" that briefly sent stocks plummeting. The Dow had reached its highest level of the year just a week before.
A weaker jobs report added to a series of tepid economic indicators in recent weeks that have built expectations that the Fed will announce new steps to encourage borrowing when it meets in early November.
Private employers added 64,000 workers last month, short of the 75,000 economists expected, according to a monthly government report released early Friday. Overall, 95,000 jobs were slashed as governments laid off workers, including temporary census employees.
The unemployment rate held steady at 9.6 percent. Jason Pride, director of investment strategy at wealth management firm Glenmede, said that the weak report gives the Fed "the window of opportunity to take action."
The Fed's goal, if it starts buying bonds again, would be to drive interest rates down further from their already low levels and spark borrowing and spending. Lower rates could also eventually drive investors into riskier assets like stocks or into currencies in countries
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