Better-than-expected jobs report push stock indexes higher NEW YORK, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes surged Friday on a better-than-expected jobs report that revived speculation the Federal Reserve may start ending its stimulus program soon. The U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department reported Friday, higher than the 125,000 predicted by economists because of the 16-day partial government shutdown in early October. Despite the additional jobs, the unemployment rate ticked higher in October, from 7.2 percent to 7.3 percent. The stronger data raised the prospect that the economy may be healthy enough for the Fed to begin withdrawing, or "tapering," stimulus from its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program, The Wall Street Journal reported. "Taper in December is definitely back on the table," Jason Rogan, managing director of U.S. government bond trading in New York at Guggenheim Securities LLC, told the Journal. The Dow Jones industrial picked up 167.74 points, or 1.08 percent, to 15,761.27. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 23,41 points, or 1.34 percent, to 1,770.57. The Nasdaq closed at 3,919.23, gaining 61.90 points, or 1.60 percent. On the New York Stock Exchange, 2.75 billion shares advanced while 995 million shares declined on volume of 3.77 billion shares traded. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index lost 141.64 points, or 1.0 percent, to 14,086.80. In London, the FTSE 100 picked up 11.20 points, or 0.17 percent, to close at 6,708.42. On currency markets, the euro traded higher at $1.3361 and the dollar dropped to 99.15 yen. The price for a barrel of crude oil picked up 40 cents to close at $94.60 Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of gold dropped $23.90 to settle at $1,284.60 an ounce. Silver lost 34 cents to settle at $21.32. Ten-year benchmark treasuries yielded 2.753 percent at the close of trading.