On the economic front, U.S. employment rose 80,000 in October, which was less than a gain of 95,000 that economists had expected, according to a Reuters poll, but the jobless rate slipped to a six-month low of 9 percent. In addition, an upward revision to the prior months' job gains pointed to underlying strength in the jobs market.
"Today's report should be welcome relief in a week of earth-moving headlines out of Europe," said Todd Schoenberger, managing director at LandColt Trading. "The question remaining is consistency. The recent macro data, and the dip below 400K in jobless claims warrants much-deserved optimism—Traders should cheer this report."
Among earnings, AIG tumbled after the insurer missed results following an impairment charge in its aircraft leasing unit.
Starbucks rallied after the world's largest coffee chain posted earnings that were better than expected.
On the tech front, AMD slipped after the microprocessor maker said it is slashing almost 1,4000 jobs amid a weak PC market and manufacturing delays.
Clearwire jumped after Sprint it plans to offer notes in a private transaction that it could use to fund the Internet service provider.
Groupon soared nearly 50 percent at its market debut after the online group discount company priced its IPO at $20, above the expected range of between $16 and $18.
Meanwhile, Jon Corzine resigned from his postas chairman and CEO of MF Global following the firm's bankruptcy filing earlier this week. A slew of reports followed on speculation about the whereabouts of hundreds of millions of dollars in missing client funds. Among the latest headlines, JPMorgandenied claimsthat it was holding the missing money.
—Follow JeeYeon Park on Twitter: twitter.com/JeeYeonParkCNBC—
Coming Up Next Week:
MONDAY: Consumer credit
TUESDAY: NFIB small biz optimism index, McDonald's October sales, 3-yr note auction, EU finance ministers meet; Earnings from Toyota, Activision Blizzard, Take Two Interactive
WEDNESDAY: Weekly mortgage apps, wholesale trade, oil inventories, 10-yr note auction, AT&T/Sprint back in court, Citigroup settlement hearing; Earnings from Anheuser Busch, GM, HSBC, Macy's, Ralph Lauren, Wendy's, Cisco, Green Mountain
THURSDAY: International trade, jobless claims, import & export prices, 30-yr bond auction, MF Global bankruptcy proceedings; Earnings from Kohl's, Disney, Nordstrom, Nvidia
FRIDAY: US Holiday—Veteran's Day. Markets open, banks closed. Consumer sentiment, French short sale ban ends
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