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Economists predict that employers added 170,000 jobs last month. A report that's much better or worse than expected can drive trading for weeks afterward. Last month, for instance, news of the hiring surge and a drop in the unemployment rate to 7.5 percent, a four-year low, pushed the S&P 500 above 1,600 for the first time. David Joy, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, said Friday's report is especially important for investors because the Fed has made it clear that the job market will determine whether the bank pulls back on or extends its bond-buying effort. "We're in a battleground between what the Fed is going to do and what the economy is going to do, and there's no clear direction on either," Joy said. Gold jumped $17.30 to $1,415.80 an ounce. The price of crude oil crossed above $95 per barrel following a report from the Energy Department that the country's oil supply shrank last week. Oil rose $1.02 to $94.76 a barrel. Among other stocks making big moves: Chatter that PepsiCo may be interested in buying SodaStream sent the Isreali company's stock up 3 percent, even though PepsiCo called the speculation "totally untrue." SodaStream's stock gained $1.89 to $71.24. VeriFone Systems plunged 21 percent. After the market closed Wednesday, the provider of terminals for credit-card payments reported quarterly results that fell short of financial analysts' estimates. The lower results were a result of a charge for legal fees and sliding sales. VeriFone also forecast earnings of 20 cents in the current quarter, half of what analysts had forecast. The company's stock sank $4.58 to $17.37.
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