amex 7/10, page-2

By Kate Gibson and Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock-index futures erased declines to turn sharply higher on Friday after the government’s nonfarm-payrolls report for September yielded more positive results than predicted.

Stock futures reversed course after the Labor Department reported employers added 103,000 jobs in September. The unemployment rate remained at 9.1%.

Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected the figures to show the unemployment rate holding steady at 9.1%, with 59,000 jobs added in September, compared to zero net new jobs in August.

“The better number eased major concerns about where this economy is headed, at least for now,” Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, wrote in an email.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJ1Z +0.89% rose 107 points to 11,153 and those on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index SP1Z +0.92% climbed 12.60 points to 1,170.20.
Click to Play
China's cooling trend could continue

China gears up to release consumer- and producer-price indexes, with investors expecting an easing. Also in Asia, Australia will announce unemployment figures, and the Central Bank of Korea will make an interest-rate decision.

Nasdaq 100 futures ND1Z +0.79% added 15.25 points to 2,220.

The rise comes after three days of strong gains for U.S. markets amid growing expectations that Europe will act to bolster its banking sector. The cautious optimism over Europe helped the Dow Industrials DJIA +1.68% add over 183 points on Thursday, pulling the benchmark back above 11,000.