Burst of hiring by US employers last month sends stocks indexes higher; Bonds, gold fall

U.S. stocks are rising sharply as investors were encouraged by a burst of hiring last month.

Prices for gold and U.S. government bonds fell as investors sold safe-haven assets.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 133 points, or 0.8 percent, to 16,933 at noon Friday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 16 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,962. The Nasdaq rose 42 points, or 1 percent, to 4,472.

The government reported that employers added 248,000 jobs in September. The unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent, the lowest since July 2008.

Gold slumped 1.7 percent to $1,194 an ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.45 percent.

The dollar surged 1 percent against the euro and the yen as traders anticipated higher U.S. interest rates and economic growth.