In this March 22, 2005, file photo, Damon Federighi shouts orders in the euro dollar futures pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The Dow on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2015, finished more than 200 points higher on surging oil prices and merger activity and as investors awaited Friday’s closely watched US jobs report. AP PHOTO/M. SPENCER GREEN
NEW YORK–The Dow Thursday finished more than 200 points higher on surging oil prices and merger activity and as investors awaited Friday’s closely watched US jobs report.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,878.91, up 205.89 points (1.16 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 20.80 (1.02 percent) to 2,062.31, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 48.39 (1.03 percent) to 4,765.10.
US oil prices gained more than four percent to close above $50 a barrel, lifting petroleum stocks. Dow member ExxonMobil climbed 1.0 percent, while oil-services giant Halliburton added 2.2 percent.
Dow member Pfizer gained 2.9 percent on news that its $17 billion deal to buy Hospira would add a new portfolio of sterile injectable treatments and biosimilar drugs to Pfizer’s broad pharma offerings.
Friday’s jobs report for January is expected to show the US economy added 235,000 jobs, a slowdown from December, and the unemployment rate held steady at 5.6 percent.