Stocks Close Up 248 Despite Tough Jobs News

Stocks gained today despite a big bump in unemployment last month and poor earnings reports, MarketWatch reports. The indexes looked positioned for another late-Friday bloodbath but instead rose sharply in what could be a vote of confidence for President-elect Obama’s economic team. The Dow rose 248.02 to 8,943.81. The Nasdaq gained 38.70 to 1,647.40, and the S&P 500 climbed 25.87 to close at 930.75.

The rally somewhat recouped two days of steep losses. General Motors plummeted after posting a $4.2 billion quarterly loss, but like the October jobs report, the larger market appears to have already priced in the news. Obama and his team of economic advisers held a news conference, saying that another fiscal stimulus package was “long overdue.”

• For the week, the Dow lost 4.1%, the Nasdaq fell 4.3%, and the S&P 500 shed 3.9%.

(More Dow Jones stories.)