U.S. Stocks, Commodities Gain as Dollar Drops After Jobs Data
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U.S. stocks rose and commodities extended their biggest weekly rally in more than a year as a slide in the dollar boosted prices of oil and metals, helping equities overcome an early drop that followed an unexpected rise in the jobless rate.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.3 percent to 1,224.71 at 4 p.m. in New York, adding to gains in the last half hour after CBS reported that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke hasn’t ruled out extending the central bank’s asset-purchase program beyond $600 billion. The Dollar Index lost 1.5 percent for its biggest drop since July. Oil rallied to a 25-month high near $89 a barrel and the S&P/GSCI commodity price index climbed to the highest level in more than two years.