November 01, 2012-Stocks Rally on Upbeat Economic Data

With traders reacting positively to a slew of U.S. economic data, stocks saw significant strength during trading on Thursday. The markets may have benefited from bargain hunting after recent weakness dragged the Nasdaq down to a nearly three-month closing low. The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, ending the session firmly in positive territory. The Dow rose 136.16 points or 1 percent to 13,232.62, the Nasdaq jumped 42.83 points or 1.4 percent to 3,020.06 and the S&P 500 advanced 15.43 points or 1.1 percent to 1,427.59. The rally on Wall Street came on the heels of the release of a batch of largely upbeat economic data, including a report from payroll processor Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) showing stronger than expected private sector job growth. ADP said private sector employment increased by 158,000 jobs in October compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 135,000 jobs. The Labor Department also released a report showing an unexpected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended October 27th.