NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks finished modestly higher Friday after the government reported a surge in hiring last month.<br />
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Employers added 321,000 jobs in November, the biggest burst of job creation in almost three years and far more than economists were expecting.<br />
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The Dow Jones industrial average rose 58 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 17,958. It came within nine points of the 18,000 mark earlier.<br />
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The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained three points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,075. The Nasdaq composite climbed 11 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,780.<br />
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Financial stocks rose the most of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 index.<br />
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Crude oil lost 97 cents to $65.84 a barrel in New York.<br />
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Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.30 percent.
