Qa'dah 28, 1431 H/ Nov. 05, 2010, SPA -- U.S. stocks gained on Thursday, with all three major indexes finishing at two-year highs, as investors welcomed the announcement from the Federal Reserve (Fed) to inject $600 billion into the economy. The central bank said Wednesday it would buy $600 billion of U.S. Treasuries by the middle of next year. The second round of treasury purchases, referred to as quantitative easing, is the Fed's latest attempt to lower long-term interest rates in the weak economy. In economic news, government data showed that productivity rose at a stronger-than-expected 1.9 percent annual rate during the third quarter. Weekly jobless claims rose more than expected to 457,000, the government reported. The total number of people receiving jobless benefits fell to 4.34 million, down from the 4.38 million expected by analysts. Meanwhile, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its key monthly jobs report Friday. Economists expect the report to show that employers added 68,000 jobs in October after cutting 95,000 in September. However, the unemployment rate expected to remain at 9.6 percent. The U.S. dollar fell against the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for December delivery gained $1.80 to $86.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $45.50 to $1,383.10 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 219.71, or 2.0 percent, to 11,434.84. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 23.109, or 1.9 percent, to 1,221.06. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 37.07, or 1.5 percent, to 2,577.34.
