Stocks rose Thursday morning after an encouraging employment report, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 index above 1,700 points for the first time.
New Jersey's economy has been sick for a long time, but it is starting to recover lately at a faster pace. That's according to new report from a Morristown investment firm.
There was no let-up in the flight from stocks and bonds as traders reacted to news that the Federal Reserve could end its massive bond-buying program as next year and as China's manufacturing slowed.
Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb Inc. and Merck & Co. gained about 4 percent each after the drugmakers announced encouraging results on experimental cancer medicines over the weekend.