Job News Lifts the Markets

By Matthew Monks

Published December 04, 2009, 6:13 p.m. EST

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Updated December 04, 2009, 5:14 p.m. EST

1 Min Read

Banking stocks led the overall markets higher Friday on news that the unemployment rate fell in November.

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The KBW Bank Index closed up 2.19%, at 44.24.

Financial stocks rose with other sectors after the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the nation's unemployment rate fell to 10% in November, from 10.2%, as the economy shed a net 11,000 nonfarming jobs, the smallest decline since the recession started in late 2007.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.22%, and the S&P 500 index 0.55%.

The shares of large and midsize banks closed on a high note after a mixed trading week.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 0.82%; Bank of America Corp., 3.3%; Wells Fargo & Co., 1.77%., and Citigroup Inc., a penny, to $4.06 a share. Among regional banking companies, SunTrust Banks Inc. rose 2.01%; Fifth Third Bancorp, 1.16%; BB&T Corp., 4.07%; State Street Corp., 1.29%, and First Horizon National Corp., 2.68%.

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Matthew Monks writes on mergers and acquisitions from the paper's New York office. He previously covered corporate debt for Crain Communications and... Read full bio

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