Market Report - New York

Stocks rebounded on Wall Street yesterday as a strong employment report provided fresh evidence of the strength of the United States economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 136.46 points - or by 1.5 per cent - to 9,016.14.

A 185-point tumble on Thursday had left the blue-chip barometer nearly 500 points below the record of 9,374.27 set on November 23rd.

Broader stock indicators posted a full recovery from Thursday's slide, with technology and financial shares stepping right back into the leadership role.

Before the opening of trade, the Labour Department reported that unemployment fell to 4.4 per cent in November, the lowest rate since April and May, when joblessness fell to a 28-year low of 4.3 per cent..

With three weeks of 1998 left, the Dow is holding a 14 per cent gain for the year. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 48.85, or 2.5 per cent, to 2,003.16, about 13 points from record terrain. The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 26.32 to 1,176.46, about 12 points from a new high.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by nearly a 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,963 up, 1,044 down and 543 unchanged. Nasdaq gainers led by just a 5-to-4 margin.

NYSE volume totalled 706.13 million shares, down from 797.26 million on Thursday.

The NYSE composite index rose 10.04 to 573.49, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 6.86 to 660.39.