Stocks post modest gains as job losses slow

NEW YORK -- Investors undaunted by a surprisingly weak jobs report found enough positive news to nudge stocks higher.

News that the nation's unemployment rate rose above 10 percent last month for the first time in 26 years didn't derail the stock market's strong gains in the week, which lifted major indexes more than 3 percent.

The rise in joblessness to 10.2 percent in October, while bad news for the economy, reassured some investors that the Federal Reserve will have to hold interest rates low for some time. That tends to weaken demand for the dollar, which in turn gives a boost to stocks.

"We got data today that suggests that interest rates are going to be on hold for a while," said Max Bublitz, chief strategist at SCM Advisors.

When the dollar is weaker, U.S. goods are cheaper for buyers overseas. Companies that do business overseas also get a profit gain when their earnings are translated back into dollars.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.46, or 0.2 percent, to 10,023.42, boosting its gain for the week to 311 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.67, or 0.3 percent, to 1,069.30, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 7.12, or 0.3 percent, to 2,112.44.

For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 index added 3.2 percent, while the Nasdaq rose 3.3 percent.