NEW YORK, Dec 9: The major US stock indexes regained their upward momentum over the past week spurred by corporate news and accelerating job growth as traders looked ahead to Tuesday's Federal Reserve meeting.

In the week to Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average blue-chip index rose 0.92 per cent to 12,307.49 points.

The broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 gained 0.94 per cent to 1,409.84 while the technology-weighted Nasdaq index advanced 1.00 per cent to close at 2,437.36.

Stocks were bolstered ahead of the weekend as the Labour Department reported that US employers added 132,000 jobs in November in a report that suggests overall economic growth remains on track and a recession is less likely.

The unemployment rate edged up to 4.5 per cent from 4.4 per cent, remaining close to its lowest point since mid-2001, the Labour Department said.

Job creation, seen as one of the best indicators of economic growth, was stronger than the 105,000 posts forecast by most Wall Street analysts.

The upbeat report raised expectations further that Fed policymakers would keep the fed funds rate anchored at 5.25 per cent at next week's meeting.

After today's employment report, it's fairly clear that the Fed will not change interest rates, said Hugh Johnson, an analyst at Johnson Illington Advisors.

Focus will be on CPI (consumer price index), very important to know what the Fed will do in January, Johnson said, looking ahead to 2007.

The Fed has been partly fixated on warding off inflationary threats to the US economy in recent months.

The government is expected to announce next week that the consumer price index rose 0.2pc in November, following a decline of 0.5pc in the prior month, according to most economists' forecasts.

The core CPI rate, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, is anticipated to rise 0.2 per cent after posting a gain of 0.1 per cent in October.—AFP