US STOCKS-Jobs data, trade progress boost S&P, Nasdaq to records

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* U.S. jobs growth in October slows less than expected
* Exxon rises after profit beat
* Dow up 0.92%, S&P 500 up 0.81%, Nasdaq up 0.88%

(Updates to mid-afternoon, changes byline)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Nov 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Friday as
the S&P hit an intraday record for the fourth time this week
after an upbeat U.S. jobs report and data on Chinese
manufacturing lessened concerns about slowing global growth.
Job growth slowed less than forecast in October, as a drag
from a strike at General Motors GM.N was made up for in other
areas of the labor market, while job gains in the prior two
months were stronger than previously thought. "It's really good. The market should like it because
obviously with the GM strike, manufacturing being affected by
that, it is a very nice report and one people should be pretty
excited about overall," said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist
at TD Ameritrade in Chicago.
The strong jobs number helped overshadow a report that
showed the manufacturing sector contracted for a third straight
month. Along with the S&P's new high, the Nasdaq topped its July
intraday record after both indexes closed out October with their
best monthly performance since June as quarterly earnings have
come in stronger than anticipated and U.S.-China trade rhetoric
has appeared productive.
Prior to the jobs report, sentiment was supported by data
showing China manufacturing activity unexpectedly expanded in
October, easing concerns about a slowdown in demand from the
world's second-largest economy as a result of U.S. tariffs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 250.48 points,
or 0.93%, to 27,296.71, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 24.68 points,
or 0.81%, to 3,062.24 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
73.29 points, or 0.88%, to 8,365.65.
U.S.-China trade news remained supportive for stocks, as
Beijing's state-media Xinhua News Agency reported the two
countries have "reached consensus on principles." Earlier, U.S.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the "phase one" trade pact
with China appeared in good shape. About 76% of the 356 S&P 500 companies that have reported so
far have beaten profit estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
However, profit growth forecasts for the next four quarters
have been revised lower, even as expectations for a decline in
third-quarter earnings have shrunk to 0.8% from 2.2% at the
start of October.
Oil major Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N rose 2.70% after it beat
recently lowered third-quarter profit expectations. The energy
sector .SPNY gained 2.29% as the best-performing S&P sector,
and oil prices jumped on trade deal progress.
Qorvo Inc QRVO.O jumped 19.71% after the Apple supplier
announced a $1 billion share buy-back plan and forecast
third-quarter revenue above expectations. But Pinterest Inc PINS.N plunged 16.39% after the online
scrapbook company missed quarterly revenue
estimates. Arista Networks Inc ANET.N slumped 24.80% after the cloud
infrastructure supplier forecast current-quarter revenue much
below Wall Street expectations.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
2.53-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.00-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 41 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 99 new highs and 31 new lows.