US stocks open December higher

US stock indices rose in the first sessions of December, after the release of major economic data, amid focus on the latest updates regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

Wall Street fell yesterday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's statements that the Fed will accelerate the pace of reducing asset purchases, despite concerns over Omicron.

This came after Powell's statements that Omicron may pose a threat to the recovery of employment and US economic growth and cause inflationary pressures that could persist longer.

Data showed today that the US private sector added 534K new jobs in November, beating forecasts of 525,000.

As for stocks, Dow Jones rose 1.1% or 380 points to 34,861 as of 15:09 GMT, and S&P 500 rose 1.5% or 69 points to 4,639, while Nasdaq rose 1.5% or 238 points to 15,775.