Why the Dow Is Up Today

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) was up for a second day in a row after a second day of positive jobs data. At 10:15 a.m. EST, the Dow was up nine points to 12,725.

Today the Dow is up as jobless claims decreased last week by 12,000 to 367,000. Yesterday the market was up in reaction to data from ADP that showed private-sector jobs grew by 170,000 in January.

Leading the Dow up is Alcoa (NYS: AA) . The stock is up 1.76% to $10.37. Alcoa was one of last year's worst-performing Dow components. There are some things to like about Alcoa, however, and Fool analyst Sean Williams thinks Alcoa will outperform the market over the next few years.

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At the time thisarticle was published Dan Dzombak can be found on his Facebook page. Click here and like his Facebook page to follow his investing articles. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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