Stock prices held their value Friday despite news that the nation's unemployment rate rose above 10 percent in October.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 17.46 points to 10,023.42. The Nasdaq composite index rose 7.12 points to 2,112.44 and the S&P 500 stock index was up 2.67 points to 1,069.30.
For the week, the Nasdaq was up 3.3 percent and both the Dow and S&P 500 were up 3.2 percent.
The Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent last month, the highest level since April 1983. U.S. payrolls declined by 190,000 in the past month.
Oil fell Friday on concerns that the week economy would be extended and reduce energy consumption. Crude closed at $77.43 a barrel, down $2.19. Gold, however, continued to advance, gaining $6.40 to $1,095.10 an ounce.
"Stocks rising in the face of the unemployment data is a recognition that we're probably close to the peak in that number," said Mark Bronzo, a money manager at Security Global Investors, which oversees $21 billion in Irvington, N.Y. "It's a bad number, but people are thinking it may not get a lot worse."
Payrolls fell by 190,000 workers last month, compared with a 175,000 drop anticipated by the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, the Labor Department said. The S&P 500 dropped when the stock market opened following the bigger-than-estimated decrease in October payrolls and the unemployment rate jumping to a 26-year high of 10.2 percent.
The market rebounded after the first half hour of trading as some investors shifted their focused to data showing companies cut 91,000 fewer jobs in August and September than originally reported and stepped up hiring of temporary workers, a trend some economists say may signal an end to job losses in coming months.
An increase in temporary workers "is oftentimes looked at as the canary in the coal mine in this data series," said Kevin Caron, a market strategist in Florham Park, N.J., at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which manages about $98 billion in client assets. "It's obviously easier to hire and fire temporary workers on short-term notice than retain full-staffed, fully employed workers."
The S&P 500 has soared 58 percent from a 12-year low in March after $11.6 trillion in government spending, lending and guarantees returned the economy to growth following a year of contraction. The benchmark index for stocks posted its first monthly decline since February in October as decreases in consumer confidence and spending raised concern over the durability of the economic recovery.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) rose 6.2 percent, the most since Sept. 16, to $15.33. Analysts from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. and Oppenheimer & Co. raised their ratings and share-price estimates for the owner of NBC Universal and GE Capital.
"The risk/reward balance has improved enough to warrant a more positive stance," Bernstein's Steven Winoker wrote in a note to clients.
Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) led a measure of retailers in the S&P 500 to a 1.7 percent advance, the second-best performance among 24 industries. JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) analysts boosted the company's rating to "Overweight" from "Neutral."
Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) added 4.6 percent to $126.20. The largest Internet retailer was raised to "Outperform" from "Market Perform" at Sanford C. Bernstein, which also raised its price estimate for the company to $160 a share. Amazon will see "revenue re-acceleration," improved operating margins and increased free cash flow, analysts led by Jeffrey Lindsay wrote in a note Friday.
Lowe's Cos. (NYSE: LOW) rose 4.3 percent to $20.94 and Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) added 1.8 percent to $26.08 after both companies were raised to "Buy" from "Underperform" at Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC).
American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) tumbled 9.7 percent to $35.48, driving financial stocks to the steepest decline among 10 industries in the S&P 500. The insurer bailed out by the U.S. government posted sales declines at its property-casualty and life insurance divisions.
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) rose the most in the S&P 500, adding 8.7 percent to $20.18. The world's biggest maker of slot machines posted profit excluding some items of 20 cents a share in the fiscal fourth quarter, beating the average analyst estimate by 23 percent, according to Bloomberg data.
Earnings have exceeded the average analyst estimate for 83 percent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported third- quarter results since Oct. 7, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That would mark the highest full-quarter proportion in data going back to 1993.
Energy stocks in the S&P 500 lost 0.2 percent as oil and natural gas dropped. Gas for December delivery lost 3.9 percent to $4.595 per million British thermal units.
"Energy demand is going to be muted with lower industrial activity and consumers driving less, etc., etc.," said Jeffrey Schappe, who helps manage $17 billion as chief investment officer at BB&T Asset Management Inc. in Raleigh, N.C.
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