July 08, 2007	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 22, 1428

NEW YORK, July 7: US stocks higher on Friday after a government report revealed solid US job growth last month and that hiring was more robust in April and May than initial forecasts had suggested.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 46.01 points (0.34 per cent) at 13,611.85 just after the closing bell.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite ended up 9.86 points 0.37 per cent at 2.666.51 and the Standard and Poor's 500 broad-market index added 5.08 points (0.33pc) to a preliminary close of 1,530.48. The monthly job market snapshot reaffirmed some economists' expectations that growth in the world's biggest economy is clicking up a gear.

The market action came after the Labour Department reported that US employers added 132,000 jobs in June while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.5 per cent.

Despite the seemingly good news on the job front, however, stock watchers said the markets reaction was generally muted as traders pared back hopes of interest rate cuts anytime soon.

A surge in world oil prices, with NY prices settling close to $73.00 a barrel, also tempered the stock market's gains.-AFP