(Updates to early morning, adds byline)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday as
data showing employers shed far fewer jobs in April than
expected calmed worries about the slump in the economy.
The market added to Thursday's gains as shares of Bank of
America Corp <BAC.N>, the No. 2 U.S. bank, led financial stocks
with a 2.5 percent rise while shares of Citigroup Inc <C.N>,
the largest U.S. bank, climbed nearly 3 percent.
Construction shares were also among the standouts, with
Centex Corp <CTX.N>, the No. 4 U.S. home builder, up more than
2 percent.
Shares of retailers also notched gains, led by a rise of
nearly 2 percent in Home Depot Inc <HD.N>, the largest U.S.
home improvement chain. Technology shares also headed higher as
bellwethers such as Research In Motion Ltd <RIMM.O> <RIM.TO>,
the BlackBerry maker, advanced.
Investors hoped that signs of stability in the job market
would go some way in allaying consumers' fears at a time when
households have been grappling with soaring energy costs and
declining home values.
"People are willing to accept the fact that we may have a
very slow, stagnant economy, but the prospect of a sharp
downturn seems to be less and less likely, hence the sigh of
relief," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity
Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> gained 95.75
points, or 0.74 percent, to 13,105.75. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> climbed 10.48 points, or 0.74 percent, to
1,419.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> shot up 11.78
points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,492.49.
The Dow at one point was less than 1 percent away from
turning positive on the year as the market added to gains after
data came out showing new orders at U.S. factories jumped more
than expected in March.
Bank of America shares rose to $40.36 on the New York Stock
Exchange, where Citigroup shares climbed to $26.72.
Shares of Centex rose 2.8 percent to $22.62 on the NYSE,
and contributed to a gain of 1.9 percent in the Dow Jones home
construction index <.DJUSHB>.
Home Depot shares rose to $30.24. Shares of RIM climbed 2.3
percent to $130.89 on the Nasdaq. SAP AG <SAPG.DE>, the biggest
maker of business management software and RIM plan to develop
business software for the BlackBerry mobile device, a person
briefed on the plans said.
The Labor Department said 20,000 jobs were shed last month,
marking a fourth straight monthly decline, but the cuts were
fewer than the 80,000 which economists surveyed by Reuters
had anticipated. The unemployment rate fell to 5.0 percent from
5.1 percent, contrary to forecasts of a pickup to 5.2 percent.
(Editing by James Dalgleish)
