Surge in hiring lifts markets

A surge of hiring in November lifted the markets to a higher close with the Dow gaining 58 points to 17,964. Nasdaq climbed 11 points to 4,780.

On the upside

Speculation that the Federal Reserve would soon raise interest rates lifted shares of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).

Vitesse Semiconductor (Nasdaq: VTSS) narrowed losses for the third quarter.

Foamix Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: FOMX) will present a corporate review and business update at the Oppenheimer & Co., Inc.'s 25th Annual Healthcare Conference next week.

On the downside

Sirius XM (Nasdaq: SIRI) will pay approximately $3.8 million to settle contract complaints.

Alcoa (NYSE: AA) introduced its patented Alcoa Micromill technology to manufacture aluminum sheets for automobiles but the stock price fell.

Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) extended its losses.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 10 to 9 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 added 3 points to 2075. Bitcoin rose $7 to $373.