US stock indexes back at record highs after better jobs data

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks are rising Thursday following yet more signs that the job market continues to improve. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed above 2,420 for the first time and is on track to set another record.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index rose 13 points, or 0.5 percent, to nearly 2,425, as of 3:15 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite rose 36, or 0.6 percent, to 6,235. If both indexes hold steady at those levels, they would set records. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 95 points, or 0.5 percent, to 21,104. The Dow had also been on pace to set a record, but it pared its gains.

Smaller stocks were doing much better than the rest of the market. The small-cap Russell 2000 index added 21 points, or 1.5 percent, to 1,391, still shy of the record high it set April 26.

JOB JUMP: Employers continue to hire more workers. Payroll processor ADP said private businesses added 253,000 jobs last month, more than economists expected and an acceleration from April. It's a reassurance, particularly when growth of the overall economy has remained frustratingly tepid.

The more comprehensive jobs report from the U.S. government arrives on Friday. It will include hiring by all non-farm employers, and economists expect it to show growth of 176,000 jobs in May.

A separate report showed that the number of workers filing for unemployment claims rose last week, which could be an indication that layoffs are on the rise. The number remains low by historical standards.

HUNGRY FOR STOCKS: "The market's ahead of itself, but I'm not surprised that the market is ahead of itself," said Linda Duessel, senior equity strategist at Federated Investors.

She talks often with financial advisers around the country, and she hears from many of them that they see any pullback in stocks as a quick opportunity to buy rather than as a source of concern. That hunger to buy has pushed the S&P 500 within a few months to where Duessel thought it would be in a year or so.

"What you have, it would appear, is an acceleration in earnings with a low inflationary environment, which is Goldilocks," Duessel said.

ACROSS THE ECONOMY: Other reports on the U.S. economy were mixed on Thursday. Manufacturing growth picked up last month and was stronger than economists were expecting, but construction spending unexpectedly weakened in April.

OH, DEERE: Deere shares rose $2.57, or 2.1 percent, to $125.03 after it agreed to buy Wirtgen Group, a German maker of road-construction equipment for about 4.6 billion euros, or $5.2 billion, including debt.

FIVE STARS: Dollar General rose $4.47, or 6.1 percent, to $77.86 after it reported stronger earnings for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

SINKING: Hewlett Packard Enterprise fell $1.22, or 6.5 percent, to $17.59 for the biggest drop in the S&P 500 after it reported a weaker quarter than analysts expected.

INTEREST RATES: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 2.21 percent. The 30-year Treasury yield also held steady at 2.87 percent.

A stronger job market gives the Federal Reserve more leeway to raise interest rates, and its next meeting on rate policy is in two weeks. The central bank has been gradually pulling rates off their record low following the Great Recession, and it has raised them twice since December.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 111.30 Japanese yen from 110.57 yen late Wednesday. The euro fell to $1.1217 from $1.1246, and the British pound dipped to $1.2885 from $1.2892.

COMMODITIES: Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 4 cents to settle at $48.36 per barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 13 cents to settle at $50.63 a barrel. Natural gas fell 6 cents to settle at $3.01 per 1,000 cubic feet, heating oil slipped 2 cents to $1.50 per gallon and wholesale gasoline was close to flat at $1.60 per gallon.

Gold fell $5.30 to settle at $1,270.10 per ounce, silver dropped 13 cents to $17.28 per ounce and copper added a penny to $2.59 per pound.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: France's CAC-40 gained 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX advanced 0.4 percent and London's FTSE 100 added 0.3 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 advanced 1.1 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.6 percent, and South Korea's Kospi shed 0.1 percent.

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AP Business Writer Joe McDonald contributed from Beijing.