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Empresas y finanzas

Cheaper oil helps lift stocks


    NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose sharply on Friday as investors bet that a steep drop in oil prices will boost consumer spending, lifting retail stocks and offsetting government data showing half a million jobs were lost in November.

    * Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc jumped nearly 5 percent, making it one of the Dow's top-weighted advancers.

    * A government report showed that U.S. employers cut payrolls by 533,000 in November, the weakest performance in 34 years.

    * The Dow Jones industrial average was up 259.18 points, or 3.09 percent, to end unofficially at 8,635.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 30.85 points, or 3.65 percent, to finish unofficially at 876.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 63.75 points, or 4.41 percent, to close unofficially at 1,509.31.

    (Reporting by Chris Sanders; Editing by Jan Paschal)