The nation's unemployment rate dropped to a six year low of 5.9% to lift the markets to a sharply higher open with the Dow soaring 168 points to 16,969. Nasdaq surged 51 points to 4,482.
On the upside
Thomson Reuters reported that Mobileye (NYSE: MBLY) was the best performing venture-backed IPO in the third quarter.
Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: BCRX) continued rising over concerns of a potential Ebola outbreak in Dallas.
Nxt-ID (Nasdaq: NXTD) extended its gains after announcing yesterday that 30 second ads for its Wocket smart wallet were airing nationally this week.
On the downside
RBC Capital Markets downgraded Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) from a Buy rating to a Reduce rating and slashed its price target from $18 to $5.
Falling gold prices weighed down shares of Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI).
Investors locked in profit on Wayfair (NYSE: W).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 climbed 17 points to 1963. Bitcoin fell $9 to $360.
Markets surge as unemployment rate falls to six year low
October 03, 2014 at 10:43 AM EDT
