Verizon, the largest local-phone company, added US$1.12 to US$40.19, while Philip Morris, the largest cigarette maker, climbed US$0.59 to US$39.95.
Qualcomm advanced US$1.90 to US$41.48. The owner of patents for cell phones used by 127 million people said it will ship at least 28 million phone chips this quarter, up from an earlier estimate of 25 million to 27 million. It also lifted its fiscal second- quarter forecast to 24 million to 27 million, up from more than 20 million.
Oracle Corp, rose US$0.59 to US$11.28. James Mendelson, a SoundView Technology Group analyst, said the company's fiscal second-quarter results will be at the high end of management's forecasts.
Rational Software Corp surged US$2.12 to US$10.29 after International Business Machines Corp. agreed to purchase the maker of software that automates the development of computer programs for US$2.1 billion, or US$10.50 a share.
Hewlett-Packard Co climbed US$0.57 to US$18.83. Salomon Smith Barney Inc. analyst Richard Gardner recommended clients buy shares of the No. 2 computer maker instead of IBM. He said Hewlett- Packard shares trade at the low end of its historical price-to-earnings range, while IBM shares sell at the high end of its range.
Gardner lowered IBM, the biggest computer maker, to "in-line" from "outperform." IBM dropped US$0.74 to US$82.32.
General Motors Corp and Walt Disney Co led a decline in consumer-related shares after the November jobs report. GM, the world's biggest automaker, fell US$0.70 to US$37.25. Disney, a theme park operator, slid US$0.47 to US$17.17.
The Labor Department said payrolls declined by 40,000 jobs last month, the biggest drop since February. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast an average increase of 36,000.
The jobless rate rose to 6 percent, the highest in seven months, up from 5.7 percent in October. The average in Bloomberg's survey was 5.8 percent.
The employment report dashed optimism that companies are slowing the pace of firings. Initial jobless claims fell to a 21-month low last week, and reports this week showing rising factory orders and faster growth in the service economy also boosted confidence that the economy was recovering.
The jobs report is "further evidence the economy is not out of the woods yet," said Franklin Morton, research director at Ariel Capital Management, which oversees about US$10 billion.
McDonald's Corp shed US$0.81 to US$17.97. McDonald's Holdings Co of Japan slashed its full-year earnings forecast by 91 percent. The unit, half-owned by the US company, cited a drop in customers and rising costs.
Forest Laboratories Inc tumbled US$9.43 to US$98.35. The drugmaker faces a delay of up to two years on its hypertension treatment because federal regulators asked the company to conduct more studies.
The Russell 2000 Index of smaller stocks climbed 2.27, or 0.6 percent, to 396.72. The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, the broadest measure of US shares, rose 51.14, or 0.6 percent, to 8,629.16. The market value of US stocks climbed by US$61.37 billion.
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